Why was Ocon penalized so much in Bahrain?
Last Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon was penalized, among other things, with a five-second penalty for not properly following the starting procedure by positioning his car incorrectly on the grid. We will explain everything to you.
At the extinguishing of the lights, Esteban Ocon unknowingly incurs a five-second penalty for an inaccurate starting position on the starting grid. The Frenchman misplaced his car on his starting spot, and the stewards deemed it could be considered a gain on Ocon’s part.
On each grid slot, a ground marking defines a zone in which the race car must position itself. During its placement on the grid, the marshals noted in their report after reviewing the video evidence that, before the start of the race, the car’s right front tire was outside of the starting area. An error that cost the French team a five-second penalty.
This penalty is the result of a new sports rule introduced on February 22nd, which states that a sanction is applied when a driver places any part of the front tire contact area outside the lines during the start. After the race, the French driver acknowledges his mistake on Canal+ microphone while specifying that he wasn’t the only one positioned like that: « It’s true that I was a little further ahead than the other cars, but you have to know that it’s not visible, and I’m not the only car in front of the yellow line. There are at least three from what I’ve seen. I don’t know why I was the only one to receive the penalty »,” declares the French driver.
This knee-jerk reaction nonetheless refers to the positioning relative to the yellow mark. However, in this case, the stewards penalized the positioning too far to the right, not too far forward.
The beginning of a long series of penalties
Following this penalty, Ocon must return to the pits during the tire change to serve his penalty, without any mechanic touching the car. But the penalty is poorly respected by 0.4 seconds and he is given an additional penalty of 10 seconds before another five seconds are added for speeding by 0.01 km/h in the pit lane. Esteban Ocon will eventually retire from the race to save his car.
The Formula 1 has strict rules and the FIA strives to enforce them in order to put all drivers on an equal footing.
