New Procedures to be Implemented for Future Races Following Pit Lane Incident

During the recent race in Baku, French driver Esteban Ocon made a late pit stop after running hard tyres for most of the race. However, when he finally came into the pits, he found a group of people in the pit entry. FIA officials had started the procedure for setting up parc ferme, not realising that Ocon had yet to pit. This incident prompted discussions between Baku stewards and FIA officials, resulting in changes to procedures to ensure that this situation does not occur again.

New Procedures to be Implemented

Following the incident, the Baku stewards met with the officials involved and agreed that changes should be made for future races. The FIA representatives expressed regret and confirmed that they would take immediate steps to reconsider the procedures and protocols with relevant stakeholders, including FOM, the teams, and the FIA, to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

New procedures have been revealed in the post-race procedure document, which is issued at every event. The document instructs teams that both VIP guests and mechanics heading to parc ferme to greet arriving cars must stay clear of the pit lane until the last car has crossed the start/finish line, and it is clear that there will be no more pit stops. It further states that team mechanics are not allowed to move from their garages to the parc ferme with cooling fans in anticipation of their cars stopping at the end of the race until after the last car has taken the chequered flag. Any other personnel or VIPs are also not permitted to enter the pit lane until after the last car has taken the chequered flag.

Any infringement of these procedures will result in the removal of passes from the team(s) in question from subsequent events and may result in the reporting of the infringing team(s) to the stewards.

In conclusion, the incident involving Esteban Ocon at the Baku race has prompted necessary changes to procedures to prevent confusion and ensure that all FIA officials, teams and stakeholders are aware of the correct procedures to follow. The FIA has expressed regret and has taken immediate steps to rectify the situation ahead of the next event. With these new procedures in place, future races are expected to run more smoothly and with less confusion.