The Latest Breaking News from Esteban Ocon

At July’s Austrian Grand Prix, eight drivers were penalised (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon four separate times) post-race after the FIA had sifted through 1200 potential track limits transgressions. 

On an evening when a number of drivers were close to passing out, Esteban Ocon was sick in his helmet, Logan Sargeant retired due to heatstroke, and the medical centre had several visitors post-race, podium finisher Norris thinks F1 went too far in terms of what was acceptable.

Ocon was losing ground on his fading soft tyres when Hulkenberg tried to pass him on the exit of Turn 1, and Perez in turn drew alongside the Haas as they approached the Turn 2 left-hander.

Mercedes’ George Russell passed polewinner and early leader Piastri soon after a restart on lap three, but Russell’s pace on softer tyres fell away as the sprint entered its second half and Piastri repassed him to lead once more.

The 19-lap event featured three safety car periods and was characterised by the drivers opting to use soft tyres making big gains early on and the safety car restarts, before falling back as the race wore on with their rubber graining.

The 19-lap event featured three safety car periods and was characterised by the drivers opting to use soft tyres making big gains early on and the safety car restarts, before falling back as the race wore on with their rubber graining.

Verstappen will start ahead of Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

The session at the Losail circuit was dominated by track limits transgressions, plus the drivers struggling for rear grip around the high-speed layout.

Alpine targeted retaining fourth in the 2023 constructors' standings while closing the gap to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. However, it has fallen to sixth behind Aston Martin and McLaren.