Ocon fears consequences after post-sprint Alpine fire
Ocon fears consequences after post-sprint Alpine fire
Sam Hall & Ian Parkes
Esteban Ocon is concerned over the level of damage his Alpine has sustained after a fire broke out in parc fermé following the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint.
The Frenchman finished 18th in Saturday's sprint at Interlagos after suffering damage to his Alpine following lap-one contact with team-mate Fernando Alonso.
But Ocon's day got worse in parc fermé, when his car caught fire while he was being weighed.
Addressing the post-sprint drama, Ocon said: "The sidepod is completely open. I don’t know how it didn’t fly.
"And the car was on fire as well, so I hope at the end that there was no more damage.
"I left [the car], I did a couple of steps and then I saw the car was on fire. I thought it was the Williams but it was mine.”
With the cars in parc fermé conditions, any changes made must be like-for-like, with alternate specification parts resulting in penalties.
Asked if he had spoken to the team about the level of damage, Ocon added: “No, I came straight here.
"The whole bodywork is quite damaged from what I saw. I don’t know what the consequences are going to be.”