Esteban Ocon ‘looking forward’ to the upcoming European races

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon claims he is looking forward to fighting with Ferrari and Mercedes in the upcoming races. The Frenchman was seen jousting with both teams during the 2023 Miami GP, eventually finishing in P9.

Since this weekend's Emilia Romagna GP has been canceled due to torrential rainfall in Imola, the sport will head straight to Monaco and Spain for a doubleheader. Ocon hopes to keep the battle with the two mammoth teams going throughout the European leg of the season.

The 26-year-old went for an aggressive one-stop strategy, driving on his initial set of hard compound tires for 39 laps before pitting.

The Frenchman expressed his delight on being able to fight Mercedes and Ferrari in Miami. He said, as quoted by The Checkered Flag:

“It’s good to be back in the points with both cars after a decent race for the team today. We opted for the more aggressive strategy by going long on hard tyres in the first stint and it did not quite pay off in the end. We had some good battles with Ferrari and Mercedes with a couple of good overtakes throughout."

FIA apologized to Esteban Ocon after pitlane mishap in Baku

The FIA and Formula 1 have issued an apology to Alpine driver Esteban Ocon for the pitlane incident that occurred during the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

During the final lap of the race, as Ocon was entering the pitlane to complete his mandatory pitstop, the FIA had authorized the race organizers to commence podium preparations in the Parc Ferme area.

This created a precarious situation as the French driver skillfully maneuvered through a crowd of individuals in the pitlane while maintaining a speed of approximately 80km/h.

Esteban Ocon has now disclosed that he's received an apology from the FIA and F1 for the incident, saying (via Sky Sports):

"The FIA has apologized and Formula 1. They assured us that this is not going to happen anymore. Thank God nothing happened and so all good from now. We are racing at the time. It's of course, normal that there shouldn't be anyone in the pit lane until after we are racing like that.

The FIA made changes to its pitlane procedures following Esteban Ocon's near miss. As per the new regulations:

"Team mechanics are not permitted to move from their garages to the Parc Fermé with cooling fans in anticipation of their cars stopping at the end of the Race until after the last car has taken the chequered flag."