We gave ourselves a drive-through penalty with pit stop blunder

Esteban Ocon says Alpine effectively gave him a drive-through penalty with a botched pit stop early in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Ocon was called in despite his Alpine team not being ready for him in the pit box.

The error cost him a total of around 12 seconds. Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes admitted Ocon was not to blame for the misunderstanding.

Ocon had been running in 11th place in the early laps of the race before several cars ahead of him pitted. He caught up to Nico Hulkenberg and was behind the Haas – who was also yet to change tyres – in fifth place when he was called to “box opposite” Hulkenberg at the end of the 11th lap.

When Ocon made his way into the pit lane, the Alpine mechanics were still in the garage and not awaiting his arrival. Ocon originally assumed he must have missed the Alpine pit box marker and was forced to pit again at the end of the next lap.

“We gave ourselves an extra stop, unfortunately,” Ocon told the official F1 channel after the race. “A drive-through, I would say. We need to review as a team exactly what happened there.”

After switching to hard tyres, Ocon attempted to complete the rest of the race without stopping again. He rose up as high as eighth but fell through the field, having to pit again in the final laps.

“I think we did everything right on that first part of the race,” he said.

“We probably could have fought for a top ten finish. We were on for it. It’s a shame, but we need to come back at it and hopefully get the opportunities right in the next two.”

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Oakes accepted Alpine were responsible for the pit stop error. It was a difficult day for the team as Ocon’s team mate Pierre Gasly, who started from third on the grid, retired early on. The team also lost sixth place in the constructors’ championship to Haas, who scored four points for eighth place.

“It’s not the outcome we were hoping for today,” Oakes said. “A power unit issue brought an early end to Pierre’s race.

“With Esteban, a mistake with his first stop meant he had to stop twice. We need to put this weekend behind us. The pace we showed yesterday, and in the race, underlines the positive improvements we have made in recent weeks and gives us reason to be optimistic heading into the final two races.”

Esteban Ocon’s radio – laps 11 and 12