Alpine's Esteban Ocon was nearly involved in a scary crash with media members during yesterday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Journalists had already begun to gather in the pit lanes towards the end of the race without realising that the French driver had yet to complete his mandatory pit-stop.
Footage from Esteban's car shows just how close he was to a serious incident, and also his fast reactions.
The safety protocols of the organisers were once again called into question, after a fan invasion at the recent Melbourne Grand Prix.
“Absolute shambles, we could see it coming, Alpine could see it coming, what is going on!” said Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz.
F1: Ocon Nearly Avoids Scary F1 Crash
Looks like they were closing the pit lane with the belt barrier 😒
Not a good look at all.#F1 pic.twitter.com/pRdPjaXECb— r/Formula1 (@F1Subreddit) April 30, 2023
How does this even happen?!
An onboard from Ocon shows just how close he was to running someone over…#F1 #AzerbaijanGP https://t.co/mHMYaimN3f— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) April 30, 2023
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. pic.twitter.com/bhil48jipE— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) April 30, 2023
READ HERE: F1: German Tabloid Severely Criticised For Tasteless Michael Schumacher AI Interview
After the race, Ocon tweeted the following:
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.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez took home first place ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen, to close the gap in the overall standings to just six points.
"It really worked out today for us," Perez said. "We managed to stay in the DRS train and keep the pressure on Max.
"I think it was very close between us, we pushed to the maximum, we both clipped the wall a few times."
Azerbaijan GP Race Result
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Lando Norris, McLaren
10) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
SEE ALSO: F1: Max Verstappen Calls Out "D*ckhead" George Russell After Controversial Baku Clash
