Bahrain Grand Prix: Esteban Ocon equals unwanted record with three driving penalties before retiring

Esteban Ocon Alpine had a miserable Sunday at the Sakhir circuit after being penalized for three driving offenses in one race; it is equal to the mark previously set by Pastor Maldonado in the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon was given three penalties by the stewards at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Esteban Ocon equaled his unexpected record at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix after being penalized three times for a foul by the stewards.

The Alpine driver was initially penalized for an inaccurate starting position, then given another penalty for failing to carry out the penalty correctly during a pit stop, followed by a third offense for speeding on the pit lane.

It equaled the mark for three driving penalties in one race set by Pastor Maldonado in the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix, and afterwards Ocon was at a loss to explain what happened.

“We’re making a lot of progress on the gridiron – it’s very clear,” Ocon said. “I don’t want to go into details, but we’re usually very good at all these operational things.

“What we have done today, we have done the same way we did five years ago, but now it is different.

“We have to analyze, we have to see what happened, and come back stronger.”

Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado took three driving penalties at the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ocon had qualified ninth for the opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season but was canceled on the grid when he was deemed by the stewards to have lined up with his right front tire outside the starting grid and was given a five-second penalty.

Then, while serving in the pit lane, the Frenchman was further penalized for the mechanic starting work on the car with 4.6 seconds out of five seconds having passed, resulting in a 10-second penalty.

To compound matters, Ocon was handed a further five-second penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit of 80kph by 0.1kph, with his most miserable day ending with him being forced to retire on lap 41 with mechanical problems.

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Highlights of the 2023 F1 season opener at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The last time a driver was penalized for three driving offenses came eight years ago when Lotus driver Maldonado was penalized for colliding with Sergio Perez and speeding in the pit lane, then adding 10 seconds to his overall race time for overtaking in safety. car.

Despite a forgettable start to the year, Ocon took some encouragement from the performance of Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who secured two points for the Enstone-based team in ninth place.

“It was a missed opportunity today and we could have been on points, so we will come back stronger,” said Ocon.

“We were as fast as Ferrari in the last task. That can be very encouraging.”