After a strong start off the line, Pierre looked to make a move on the outside of Turn 1 as he pressed towards the top ten. With a slow start, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou clipped the Alpha Tauri of Daniel Ricciardo under braking who in turn hit Esteban. The Frenchman was shunted, momentarily going airborne, before making contact with Pierre on the outside.
Both cars were severely damaged with Pierre retiring at the end of the first lap and Esteban at the end of the second.
The team looks ahead to next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Esteban Ocon, started P12, DNF:
“There is not much to say from today. It’s a very frustrating end to the weekend being involved in a racing incident with a few cars at Turn 1 on the first lap. There was not much we could do and the result was both cars had to retire with significant damage. Fortunately, I’m OK. Right now our focus is on regrouping and coming back stronger as we have another race next weekend in Belgium. We must move on quickly with the aim of heading into the summer break on a good note.”
