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Alpine's Esteban Ocon feels the Miami GP's track surface is a disaster, as it stops drivers from going off the usual racing line while overtaking. This, however, did not hamper the Frenchman during the race, who despite having started the race at the back of the grid in P18, managed to finish P8 on the grid last Sunday.
The 2021 Hungarian GP winner showed off his excellent driving prowess despite having missed qualifying due to a heavy crash during Free Practice. Esteban Ocon's P20 start turned into P18 after both Aston Martin cars had a fuel temperature problem and were forced to start from the pit lane.
The Alpine driver managed to overtake most of the field on his way to a P8 finish, but he criticized the Miami GP track for its lack of grip. Drivers had to stay strictly on the racing line to find adequate grip levels for their tires and were punished heavily if they strayed even an inch off it.
Ocon criticized the newly-layed surface, claiming it was partially responsible for the incident between Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. He said:
“We heard before coming here that these stones from Georgia, they are the best in the world, and it’s one of the best tarmacs in the world, and it’s a disaster. We cannot overtake. Mick [Schumacher] touched with Seb [Vettel] partly because of that. You cannot do a dive on the inside of anybody – when you go off-line you lose half a second. There is only one line. It’s not working at all. We should go to a tarmac like Jeddah.”
Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz criticized the lack of proper barriers at the 2022 Miami GP
Both Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon were unhappy with the FIA for not putting up Tecpro barriers in the area where both the drivers crashed during the Miami GP FPs. The Frenchman suffered a 51G impact into the barriers during FP3, causing him to miss out on the qualifying session for the main race, while Sainz had a sore neck throughout the grueling main race in Miami.
Sainz, as Ocon later revealed, had broached the matter during the drivers' briefing and asked why there were no Tepcro barriers in place at Turn 13. The Ferrari driver believed that the crashes should not have been as big as they were. The Alpine driver agreed with the Spaniard, saying:
“It hurts, definitely. It was 51G, a hard impact, but I will be fit to race tomorrow, that’s the main thing.But clearly what’s a bit disappointing is the chassis change, really. The impact has been so hard in comparison to what it should have been. We discussed it with Carlos yesterday with the race directors, to say we should probably put a Tecpro barrier there, and it hasn’t been listened [to]. So that is not acceptable, and the FIA should push harder for our safety.”
Both drivers had to visit the medical center following their respective crashes to make sure they were in good health. While Esteban Ocon failed to qualify for the main race and started in P18, Carlos Sainz managed to put his Ferrari in P2 in Saturday's qualifying.
