The opening race of any season can set the tone for the year to come. Naturally, all the 20 drivers who went into yesterday’s opening round of the 2023 F1 championship were hoping to start it off on the best note possible. Be that as it may, that isn’t possible. However, you’d at the very least expect a decent race for yourself. Truth be told, many did, too. But for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, the Bahrain Grand Prix was a race to forget.

The FIA stewards penalized the French driver thrice during yesterday’s Grand Prix. This meant that the 26-year-old was left high and dry during the race without any glimmer of hope. As was the trend for him, things got worse and he had to eventually retire his car. But what led to his eventual misery was his parking himself incorrectly before the race began and after the formation lap. However, in his eyes, the FIA treated him unfairly.

After the race, Ocon explained his stance to the media. He said, “Four other cars were also too far ahead. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I was the most crooked, that’s clear, but I wasn’t the only one.” [translated via Google Translate]

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Ocon has very quickly become the team leader at the Enstone-based team. However, where does the fault lie for the Bahraini gaffes the team committed?

Esteban Ocon was left scratching his head after Alpine’s lapses penalize him

Alpine wasn’t looking in the best of shapes when the season began. But the way they conducted themselves during the season opener in Bahrain must be some serious cause for concern within the team. While serving the 5-second penalty he received in the pit lane, the team erred and started working on his car before the five seconds had elapsed, hence, earning him another penalty.

Team principal Otmar Szafnauer told Motorsport-Total.com, “We have a system that counts down and tells them when they can start. But the system was off for four-tenths of a second. For some reason, the countdown started four-tenths of a second early. We have yet to understand that,” he said while explaining the cause behind the gaffe.

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Can Alpine bounce back and nip the problem in the bud before 2023 turns into a disaster?