Ocon was flagged by FIA stewards and handed a huge grid penalty after Gasly’s accident

Esteban Ocon was handed a five-place grid penalty and two penalty points after colliding with Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.

At Portier, Ocon ran into the inside of the Alpine sister car when its wheels tangled, sending the Frenchman flying high into the air as the race was red-flagged following a huge crash involving Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen earlier in the lap.

Ocon returned to the pits, but the damage to his A524 was too severe to continue, with Gasly re-starting and finishing 10th on the weekend and the Alpine team showed flashes of pace in a turbulent start to the season.

French TV channel Canal+ reported that Alpine team boss Bruno Famine expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the incident to Ocon, who was the fourth driver to retire on the opening lap.

Stewards felt the move was “overly ambitious” and that Ocon “bears full responsibility”, given the record 10-second penalty.

However, since he did not finish the race, this was translated into Canada falling five places. Ocon now also has three penalty points on his licence.

Given the incident, Ocon felt the “chaotic” nature of the first lap played a role.

Ocon told the media: “We tried to return the car to the garage to repair the damage, but unfortunately there was a lot of damage and we could not get out again.” Racing News 365.

“It was a chaotic first lap, and I hope the team can score some points later on.

“We will definitely review everything and try to do better next time.

“I know you have to be careful, but at the same time, we are giving 120% to try to get into the top 10, for me and Pierre.

“We went too far in qualifying and mistakes happen. That’s it.”

Ocon apologized to the team for the incident, and took responsibility for the incident.

“Today’s incident was my fault, the gap was too small in the end and I apologize to the team for this,” he wrote on social media.

“I hope to get the points the team deserves today.”

Given the damage sustained, Ocon described the gearbox as the main concern.

“The gearbox was the biggest damage and we were able to come back and be 11th [without it],” he added.

“I had had [a big impact] In Budapest [in 2023 after another first lap collision with Gasly] I felt it for a week, which I thought was better, but the difference here is that the suspension broke.

“Maybe that gave me some flexibility when landing.

“The back is fine, but it’s just an unfortunate accident, and it’s not a good idea to stop the car.”