Bahrain Grand Prix: Esteban Ocon’s ordeal
However, starting ninth, Esteban Ocon faced a series of setbacks and did not finish the race this Sunday in Bahrain.
The Frenchman got off to a bad start by damaging the side of his front wing in a duel. Then, fate turned against him with a series of penalties. He first received a five-second penalty for incorrect grid placement, a penalty that was apparently poorly observed, resulting in another penalty of ten seconds. The final penalty of five seconds was to punish him for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane.
The ordeal came to an end on the 43rd lap for the Alpine driver when his team decided to permanently bring him in.
« It wasn’t the race we were hoping for, clearly it wasn’t our day. Normally, we are pretty good at everything operational. It’s kind of crazy that we had all these setbacks. We take it, analyze it, and then we’ll see what’s next. [about the sound, it’s true that I was a little ahead of the other cars, but you have to know that we can’t see.]
I was not the only one in front of the yellow line. I don’t know why I was the only one penalized. We should have finished in the points with both cars, we had the pace for it. My last stint before retiring, we were almost as fast as the Ferrari. It was solid, so it’s a shame, (he/she) expressed at the microphone of Canal+ on the sidelines of the race.
