“Absolutely criminal that”: F1 fans furious after Esteban Ocon was greeted by several photographers during his pit entry 

Esteban Ocon came very close to causing a fatal incident in the pitlane on the final lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as photographers and journalists were on the verge of being hit by the Alpine driver.

Esteban Ocon, who started the race from the pitlane following a change in his car's setup, was on the hard tires from the very beginning of the race. He managed to pull close to the top 10 by the end of the race, and although there was some apparent issue with the grip of his tires, the team decided not to pit him until the very final lap.

By the time he decided to pit, photographers were already standing on the pitlane, and when he came in, it was quite a shock to everyone present there as they had to make their way away from the speeding Alpine.

The incident created a buzz on social media, as fans took note of the mistakes of the authorities that allowed people to walk on a live pitlane. Here are some of the best reactions to the same.

"Learned nothing from Albons stop in Australia last year. Absolutely criminal that."

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Was it worth it for Alpine to keep Esteban Ocon out for so long?

Esteban Ocon started the race from the pitlane following changes in his car after the qualifying session. Along with him was Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas, who also tweaked his car's setup to address the degradation issues he was suffering from earlier this weekend.

Both drivers started the race on hard tires and kept gaining positions as other drivers pitted. They were close to a points finish, however, Hulkenberg started losing his pace and soon other drivers like Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda overtook him. Haas finally decided to pit him under those conditions, but Esteban Ocon was still out.

When the final lap of the race started, the Frenchman was finally called into the pits, and much to the surprise of the photographers on the pitlane, he was rushing in to run the final lap of the race. It was necessary for him to pit as the F1 rule book states that a driver must use two different tire compounds during a race.

However, staying out for so long didn't help him as he finished way out of the points on P15. Hulkenberg, too, finished on P17. There was no chance of either driver scoring any points for the fastest lap as a top 10 finish is necessary for that.

So while it was quite a gamble to keep them out, it didn't help them with the standings.