Esteban Ocon crashed out of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday. The Haas driver will, at best, start the race in 14th place.
If Ocon has broken his gearbox after the impact on the exit of turn three, he will face a five-place grid penalty that will drop him to the back of the field. That’s often the outcome in cases like this.
The Frenchman was on track to recover from a disappointing Japan weekend where he was knocked out in Q1 and couldn’t progress from 18th in the race. But he lit up the rear of his VF-25 at the start of his first Q2 push lap and it speared him into the tyre wall.
The crash brought out red flags and caused a delay to Q2, but Ocon was okay. Oliver Bearman had a ‘shocker’ in the other Haas, setting the slowest time.
F1 fans realise that Esteban Ocon’s Bahrain Grand Prix crash was identical to Nikita Mazepin moment
F1 fans on social media quickly noticed that Ocon’s mistake was almost identical to an error from Nikita Mazepin, one of his Haas predecessors, in 2021. Mazepin is widely regarded as one of the weakest drivers in the sport’s recent history.
The Russian, who secured the seat through sponsors Uralkali, was beaten by teammate Mick Schumacher in 20 out of 22 qualifying sessions. He also lost the race battle 16-6 and failed to finish five times.
On his debut at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix, Mazepin lasted just three corners before the rear got away from him. He tried in vain to correct the slide but by that point, he was already bound for the barriers.
While the impact wasn’t exactly the same, it wasn’t lost on one fan that ‘Ocon just did what Mazepin (in his first race) got killed online for’. Another wrote that he’d ‘channelled his inner Mazepin’.
Other comments included ‘welcome back Nikita’, ‘Ocon paying his tributes to Mazepin’, ‘Ocon did the Mazepin’ and ‘Ocon did a Mazepin 2021 impression’.
Esteban Ocon missed a golden chance to prove Karun Chandhok wrong
Ocon is currently ninth in the championship, having bagged a headline P5 in China after the two Ferraris were disqualified. That puts him three places ahead of Bearman (five points).
Still, Karun Chandhok feels Bearman is becoming the ‘lead driver’ at Haas. Ocon had a perfect opportunity to prove him wrong after going further in qualifying but he made a costly mistake.
Ayao Komatsu didn’t sound impressed with Ocon after the Japanese GP. He suggested Haas’ upgrade wasn’t working on his car as it was on Bearman’s.
Aside from the spectacular high in China, the race-winning driver has struggled since his move from Alpine. It was a mutual decision to depart the Enstone-based team.
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