BAKU, Azerbaijan — Esteban Ocon will start both Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Saturday’s sprint race from the pit lane after Alpine broke parc ferme regulations with changes to his suspension setup.
Ocon was 12th in Friday qualifying, which sets the grid for Sunday’s race, and 13th in the sprint shootout, which sets for the grid for the sprint race, but will drop to a pit lane start in both.
Under the rules of the new sprint weekend format, car specifications and car setups are locked in place as soon as Friday qualifying gets underway. Any changes thereafter result in a pit lane start.
Keeping the cars in the same specification is known as “parc ferme” in F1 and essentially means the setups cannot be changed to specifically suit qualifying or the race, while any broken parts must be replaced by components of the same specification.
Alpine already faced a tough challenge in the two races, with Ocon’s teammate, Pierre Gasly, starting Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s grand prix from 19th due to an exhaust leak in the sprint shootout and a crash at Turn 3 in qualifying.
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