FIA labelled “fortunate” by stewards after “very dangerous” pit lane incident
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon entered the pit lane on the final lap of the 51-lap race to complete his mandatory pit stop.
During this time, a number of photographers and personnel were gathering near the pit lane entry as they waited for race winner Sergio Perez.
As Ocon entered the pit lane, the entry was completely blocked.
Thankfully, the crowd of people moved as Ocon approached, meaning there was no accident.
However, the FIA will be forced to make changes for next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix
The stewards’ verdict in full:
“The stewards heard from the FIA representatives and determined that the relevant representatives took steps to set up the parc ferme area and also permitted media and other personnel to gather in the start of the pit lane and the pit wall during the last lap of the race, while the pit lane was open and before the final pit stop of OCO (Car 31).
“We noted that it was not unusual for the representatives to allow such persons into the pit lane just before the end of the race, in the usual course of preparation for parc ferme and the podium ceremony.
“However, in this case, there was one driver that had to pit in the last lap and this created a very dangerous situation for those that were in the pit lane at the time.
“We considered that it was fortunate that there were no serious consequences on account of what happened today.
“We stressed that the requirements of ensuring a safe and orderly event are paramount. This was acknowledged by the FIA team.
“We walked through the relevant procedures and protocol with the FIA representatives in detail and required them to take immediate steps to reconsider these procedures and protocols with the relevant stakeholders [including FOM, the teams and the FIA] to ensure that this situation does not occur again.
“The FIA representatives expressed their regret at what happened and assured us that they would do so in time for the next event.”
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