Esteban Ocon admitted to a low-key performance in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, but at least he had raced within the track’s white lines, contrary to many of his rivals, or so he thought.
Ocon, who had qualified 12th on Friday, concluded his day at the Red Bull Ring in the same position after an unremarkable race marked by a penalty for an unsafe release by his team right in the path of the Williams of Logan Sargeant.
The stewards had also noted a track limits transgression, but this had apparently escaped the Alpine driver when he recounted his afternoon of racing in the media pen.
"No, I didn't [get a penalty for track limits], I got it for an unsafe release. I stayed away from trouble!" an unsuspecting Ocon said.
"That's something that I never usually get. I never go off the track, and this weekend, I was quite disappointed that I did in qualifying.
"I went all the way up to the limit, three strikes, and then I backed off from there, and I took more margin. And we got another five second [penalty] for something else, so unfortunately, we're not rewarded."
Ocon’s assessment was wide of the mark however and the Frenchman would have been shocked to learn a few hours later that four additional track limit transgressions on his part had been noted and sanctioned post-race by the stewards.
Overall, Ocon was hit with five penalties, a tally that comfortably surpassed the three punishments he had received in Bahrain at the start of the season.
The violations amounted to a total of 30 seconds added to his race time, which pushed him down from P12 to P14.
Ocon was long gone by the time the stewards delivered their sanctions late on Sunday evening.
But for the Alpine driver, the Austrian Grand Prix was clearly a waste of a plane ticket and a clean pair of overalls.
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