The situation
During the Azerbaijan GP, the Alpine driver used a rare strategy, running almost the entire distance on one set of tyres in the hope of a late neutralisation or red flag, which never happened. It was only on the final lap of Sunday's race that he entered the pit lane for the mandatory tyre change.
At this point, he encountered a dangerous situation, as the pit lane was already being prepared for the podium decorations and people were in the service lane. Although no one was injured by Ocon's late pit stop, the incident was not swept under the carpet and received a well-deserved response from the FIA.
A few days after the events in Baku, an eyewitness to the early entry of the staff into the pit lane raised the issue again. Speaking to Sky, Esteban revealed that he had been contacted by the series' governing body to apologise for the incident and to reassure him that all necessary steps had been taken to prevent a repeat.
"The FIA and F1 have apologised and assured us that such a situation will never happen again," he admitted before the start of the weekend in Miami. - Thank God nothing [serious] happened. From now on everything has to work in the right way.
"We were still racing at the time," he continued when asked about the significance of the incident in the pit lane from a sporting point of view. - 'It's normal, of course, that no one should be in the service lane until we finish racing that way.
"As I said, this kind of thing doesn't usually happen, and the FIA has assured us that they are changing the protocols and making sure that nobody appears in the pit lane again until the very end of the race. So I'm sure we won't see moments like this again.
Ocon 'frightened' by near-miss in pit lane
"It's something we don't want to see. I don't understand why they started preparing the podium with one lap to go, we were still racing," Ocon explained to Viaplay.
"I arrive at 300 kph, brake at the last moment, cross the line and I had to brake to avoid the people. It could have been a big, big incident and it's something we don't want to see.
"It's crazy and something I will discuss [with the FIA].
"It scared me, I am in control of the car, but I would not have liked to be the one in the pit lane."
It was a poor weekend for Alpine, with Pierre Gasly's sister car finishing 14th on the team's pointless visit to Baku.
