Alpine’s Esteban Ocon feels that despite the changes, many drivers will still be penalized during the season for misaligning themselves on the grid, as visibility issues remain unresolved.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Alpine driver made a mistake when he “occupied” the grid: he stopped his car far to the right. At the second race venue, in Saudi Arabia, Fernando Alonso made the same mistake, although he “stopped” to the left. The FIA sanctioned both the French and the Spaniards with a five-second penalty.
Regarding the two accidents, it has been noted several times that the FIA has tightened the rules only this year: After the modifications, they not only monitored the slip above the transverse line, but also whether the wheels were inside the longitudinal lines.
The federation also reacted after the two incidents: in Melbourne, the starting grids were widened and new “auxiliary lines” were drawn on the circuit. However, the protagonist of the first issue feels that there will be similar punishments for him in the sequel, because the most important problem has not been solved, that is, it is still difficult to see the lines from the cars.
“Certainly, there will be many additional penalties this yeardeclared the French. “It may seem silly to be punished for something like this because it looks so simple, but that is because we can’t see anything from where we are sitting.” highlighted.
“We work a lot with the team to get me in a lower position in the car in a way, to be in a lower position. But we obviously didn’t follow the rules, so we deserved the penalty.” Sincerely added.
Regarding the Melbourne Amendment, he noted that it was certainly a good move. “This year it was mainly wider and now they added 20cm, so it’s going in the right direction. If you stand too far forward it gives you an advantage and for that reason, penalties have always been applied. Before, they didn’t punish us if we were a little ahead. Now the rule has changed.” But it applies to everyone the same. You have to pay attention, and the fact that the place is bigger will help.” It was formulated.
Esteban Ocon’s car on the Melbourne grid (Photo: XPB)
