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Watch: Esteban Ocon hits Charles Leclerec’s SF-24 in the pitlane ahead of Miami Sprint Race

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Manmayee Joshi | Last updated 5/4/24

The Miami Sprint race had not even kicked off and Esteban Ocon hit Charles Leclerc while exiting his garage in the pitlane. The commentators were seen calling the incident outrageous. After the incident, Ocon had to change his front wing.

Charles Leclerc didn’t suffer much damage to his SF-24 and was able to get to the grid, however, it was a bit unfortunate for Ocon as he already was starting his race from P13. After the collision, the Stewarts carefully analyzed the incident and thus, handed a ten-second penalty to the Alpine driver.

Leclerc was seen saying the following over the team radio!

What the hell was he doing? Luckily it’s just on the wheel.

the moment ocon hit charles leaving the pits pic.twitter.com/r7TLityUsx
— clara (fan acc) (@leclercsletters) May 4, 2024

The given penalty was served by Ocon during the 19-lap sprint race via a pitstop. It’s not the start the Alpine driver would’ve wanted for Saturday’s running. The team already sits at the bottom of the chart, and the Sprint race is usually a good opportunity to score some points, starting the Sprint with a penalty was the worst possible outcome for Ocon.

Esteban Ocon is in the plans of German giant’s Audi

Esteban Ocon‘s current contract with Alpine is set te come to a close at the end of this season. Alpine’s trajectory hasn’t been great and as indicated earlier, the team is at the bottom of the chart, thus, Ocon is considering other options for 2025.

As understood by F1insider, Audi might have an interest in the Alpine driver. Audi has already signed Nico Hulkenberg for the next season. They have shown their interest and made an offer to Carlos Sainz, however, the Spaniard is taking too long to draw any conclusion, because of all this, the team has decided to explore other options as well.

Previously, Ocon was linked with Mercedes as he has a close relationship with Toto Wolff . Audi is the second team the French driver has been linked with so far in the season. Keeping in view everything that has been discussed, it would be interesting to what the future holds for the French driver.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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