Esteban Ocon will start both the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Sprint and Grand Prix from the pit lane after the Sprint race rule shakeup. The Alpine driver was due to start Saturday's Sprint from P13 on the grid, but this has been sacrificed after the team took the car out of parc ferme conditions. The FIA confirmed that a "suspension setup has been changed" from the one previously used in qualifying. The team separately confirmed to RacingNews365 that there are no problems to report. Owing to the rule and format changes made ahead of the Sprint weekend, taking the car out of parc ferme results in a pit lane start for both the Sprint and the main Grand Prix. As a result, Ocon also sacrifices his P12 start for the Grand Prix and will join teammate Pierre Gasly towards the back of the grid.

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