“Scary moment at the end” - Esteban Ocon urges FIA to ensure pit-lane fiasco in yesterday’s F1 race should not be repeated

Esteban Ocon has urged the FIA to take the necessary steps to ensure the pitlane fiasco from the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix doesn't repeat itself.

After running the entire race without pitting, Ocon entered the pitlane in the penultimate lap for his mandatory stop. He was, however, met by a crowd of people at the pit lane entrance.

Race officials had already begun setting up parc ferme barriers and photographers were gathering at the start of the pit lane in preparation for the podium, unaware of Ocon's pending tire change.

After the race, the Alpine driver took to social media to express his views on the incident.

"It was all or nothing today. I really gave it everything but it didn’t go our way. Scary moment at the end there in the pit-lane. Glad no one was hurt but we must ensure things like that don’t happen again," Esteban Ocon wrote on Twitter.

Ocon elaborated on the incident in his post-race press conference, saying:

"It was definitely scary. I don't know why everyone was starting to prep the podium, we were still racing and there was all the time in the world to be doing so.

"It could have been a big, big issue for everyone there - I'm arriving at more than 300kph, leaving my braking as late as I can and they were just after the line as well so if I miss my braking point. I had to brake, I had to avoid and it was pretty scary.

"Luckily it was all good. I had no idea that they were there. I've never seen that before."

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"This is a shambles, absolute shambles" - F1 Journalist on Esteban Ocon's pitlane incident in Baku

Sky Sports F1 journalist Ted Kravitz did not hold back in his views about the pitlane incident involving Esteban Ocon at the Azerbaijan GP.

Kravitz, who was commentating on the race, expressed his shock at seeing people flock to the pit entry while the Alpine driver was making his way in. He said:

"There are people all over the pit lane. What is this about? This is a shambles, this is an absolute shambles.

His co-commentator David Croft echoed his sentiments, saying:

"That is a total and utter shambles of organisation and somebody should have known."

The FIA have since announced that they are taking "immediate steps" to reconsider their end-of-race procedures and protocols.