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63 George Russell (GBR, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team), 44 Lewis Hamilton (GBR, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team), Stefano Domenicali (ITA, President & CEO of Formula 1 Group), Mohammed Ben Sulayem (UAE, FIA President) and Ross Brawn (GBR, Managing Director Motor Sports of Formula 1 Group) are pictured as Formula 1 holds a minutes silence in mourning of Queen Elizabeth II, F1 Grand Prix of the Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 9, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by HOCH ZWEI)
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63 George Russell (GBR, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team), 44 Lewis Hamilton (GBR, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team), Stefano Domenicali (ITA, President & CEO of Formula 1 Group), Mohammed Ben Sulayem (UAE, FIA President) and Ross Brawn (GBR, Managing Director Motor Sports of Formula 1 Group) are pictured as Formula 1 holds a minutes silence in mourning of Queen Elizabeth II, F1 Grand Prix of the Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 9, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by HOCH ZWEI)
After the thrilling Australian GP, the 4-week hiatus is finally over. F1 fans were finally treated to some on-track action. With that, Sergio Perez is back to his winning ways with Max Verstappen following him in P2. No surprises there, the Red Bull pair has swapped the winner’s spot since the start of the season. What, however, became the talking point of the entire race was a final lap incident. As Esteban Ocon entered the pit lane for a tire change, he was greeted by a sea of people. That upset the fans who are now taking the FIA to the task for risking lives once again.
The FIA has time and again come under fire for compromising drivers’ safety. Just last year during the chaos in the Japanese GP, they sent out a recovery vehicle which Pierre Gasly escaped narrowly. The incident today sent fans into a furious frenzy again, as it was just the driver’s safety involved this time.
Fans furious with the FIA as Esteban Ocon comes into a pit lane full of jaywalkers
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In its new rules, the FIA prohibited the teams from having their crew jump on the pit wall to greet their drivers. With that, it also prohibited the movement of any other personnel in the pit lane.
Ocon hadn’t pitted in the entire race, and to avoid getting disqualified came in for a tire change on the final lap. As he entered the lane, a swarm of photographers was gathering at the entry to station themselves for the felicitation of the top 3 finishers.
Thankfully, they all got out of the way in time and no one got hurt. However, it does not absolve the ruling body and the organizers of being negligent.
Take a look at how fans reacted to Esteban escaping what could have turned out to be a disaster.
FIA is more focused on Hamilton's jewellery
— Nishant Shende (@niche_ant_89) April 30, 2023
The FIA being useless as per usual 😭
— Zach Lee (@Zleemcg) April 30, 2023
This was truly frightening and I can't imagine being Ocon seeing a sea of people as he's just driving in…my heart was in my mouth 😭
— Sheriri (@44hamsupremacy) April 30, 2023
No he didn’t. The organisers jumped the gun
— Dan Chamberlain (@Dan_C1990) April 30, 2023
He pits but the entire camera ppl and too 3 boards are out. WTF!!!! What did I just see
— Ty_Ci (@TyCi_46) April 30, 2023
Who the fuck were all those people!!
— James🔰🪐 (@j_e_b7) April 30, 2023
Learned nothing from Albons stop in Australia last year. Absolutely criminal that.
— Matt Chalk (@MttChlk) April 30, 2023
The FIA after this pic.twitter.com/BtUEfkVD1P
— Tom (@TomH488) April 30, 2023
This brudda almost went bowling 😭😭
— DeDankUnited (@DeDankUnited) April 30, 2023
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Watch This Story: Timeline of the Controversial F1 Jewelry Ban Causing Lewis Hamilton to Face-Off With the FIA
Plus Red Bull staff on the fence, which they shouldn’t be.
— Peter James Burrage (@pjburrage) April 30, 2023
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Do you think the FIA will take action against the persons responsible for this chaos?
