No sanctions for Ocon after his incident with Räikkönen in qualifying
During the qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix, Ocon had an incident with Räikkönen. The Frenchman will not be penalized.
After the strong performances of Renault and Ocon at Spa, one might have thought that the momentum would continue in Monza on this high-speed circuit with low downforce. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and Ocon was eliminated in Q2.
We saw a lot of traffic during this qualifying session with drivers trying to take advantage of the slipstream. At the end of Q1, Ocon and Räikkönen had an on-track incident with this slipstream game. The Frenchman blocked the Finn to maintain his position on the track.
The stewards received a report from the race director regarding this incident. The two drivers were heard by the stewards, and after reviewing the telemetry data, GPS, and videos, they decided not to penalize the Renault driver.
« The commissioners concluded that what appeared to be erratic movement of the cars was due to a combination of circumstances in which both drivers present agreed that these movements were probably inevitable and were not dangerous. »
« Car 44 was leading a line of cars on an out lap. In order, the cars 6, 31, and 7, plus other cars. Approaching turn 11, car 6 slowed down (telemetry data) in order to create a reasonable gap with car 44 in front. This forced car 31 to take measures to avoid moving to the left, which forced car 7 to brake and move. »
Esteban Ocon will therefore start from 12th place on the grid this Sunday afternoon. Kimi Räikkönen, on the other hand, will start in 14th.
