Esteban Ocon broke an unusual eight-year-long F1 record thanks to his late pit stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Alpine driver was required to start the race from the pit lane after his car was modified under parc ferme conditions. As such, the team opted to run Ocon on a different strategy to much of the field, keeping him out for most of the race on the Hard tyre. It was not until the final lap of the event that the Frenchman made his mandatory pit stop, which then led to a controversial moment as photographers, marshals and other officials had gathered near the entry of the pit lane just as Ocon was driving in. Ocon was forced to take avoiding action and fortunately nobody was harmed in the incident. He ended the Grand Prix outside of the points in P15. Since the race, Pirelli have revealed that Ocon's late stop meant that he had broken the record for the longest stint on a C3 compound tyre, having ran them for 300km. This breaks the previous record that had stood since the 2015 Formula 1 season.
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The longest stint on a C3 compound tyre in eight years. Now that's impressive from @OconEsteban 👏 #Fit4F1 pic.twitter.com/KffNATRyFW — Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 3, 2023
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