Esteban Ocon was left seething after a yellow flag in Q2 cost him a shot at his first Q3 appearance of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Haas driver had shown promising pace in Baku, but his hopes were dashed when Arvid Lindblad went off twice, triggering yellow flags just as Ocon was on a competitive lap.
Ocon ended up 14th, 0.241s behind his teammate and 0.333s adrift of the Q3 cut-off. The Frenchman was visibly frustrated, especially after enduring a torrid 2026 campaign with inconsistent car performance that has plagued him in 10 of 15 rounds.
“Unbelievable,” Ocon said. “We were on for a Q3 lap, the car was working well. You know, we don't have many chances like this when the car is working well – it hasn't been working throughout the whole season. We improved things, but we had a Q3 car today.”
Explaining the cause, he added: “The yellow flag, basically. I got a gust of wind the lap before, but I was on for a Q3 lap as well. And then I did the same lap time, again arriving to Turn 15. I don't know who went off, but I had to back off on the exit to make sure that I was not going to get any penalty. And I did exactly the same lap time. So I lost, what, three, four tenths with that?”
“Unbelievable. You know, I just have no words. It's ‘different race weekend, same shit’, you know. It's always something going on, on my side, if it's either the car, if it's something else, yellow flag, safety cars, whatever. But I don't deserve all the shit that I have on my back at the moment. So, I don't know. I might need to take a good shower.”
With Haas evaluating several drivers for 2027, Ocon knows his seat is under threat. He saw no silver lining in the VF-26’s improved pace, as teammate Oliver Bearman took 11th – the team’s best qualifying result since the Chinese GP.
“We need to fight in the top 10 tomorrow now, because we are 14th, we are not in the top 10,” Ocon added. “At the end of the day, yes, we were competitive, but we can't get there. Never. It's never happening.”
Ocon’s Baku disappointment adds to a season of frustration, with the Frenchman seemingly running out of time to prove his worth to Haas.
Baca Juga
Esteban Ocon gagal ke Q3 di Grand Prix Azerbaijan akibat yellow flag. Ia mengungkapkan frustrasi dan kekecewaannya setelah melalui musim penuh rintangan bersama Haas.
Lando Norris kesulitan kecepatan puncak di kualifikasi F1 Baku. Masalah injeksi bahan bakar dan defisit dari Mercedes jadi sorotan McLaren.
Carlos Sainz dan Sergio Perez dijatuhi penalti grid di GP Baku. Sainz turun 5 posisi, Perez 3 posisi. Simak dampaknya bagi balapan.
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