Ocon to miss Miami GP qualifying after heavy practice crash

Ewan Gale
Saturday 7 May 2022 20:18 - Updated: 20:20

Alpine has confirmed Esteban Ocon will miss Miami Grand Prix qualifying after crashing heavily in final practice.

The Frenchman lost control between the exit of turn 13 and the entry of turn 14 during the technical end to the middle sector, a portion of the track deliberately designed to be a "mistake generator".

Ocon hit the wall hard, causing heavy damage to the left-hand side of his A522 after rotating 180 degrees.

An Alpine statement read: "We can confirm that sadly Esteban won’t be taking part in qualifying this afternoon.

"His chassis was cracked in the impact with the barrier and cannot be changed in time.

"Esteban is physically fine and will race tomorrow."

The incident was near-identical to a crash that cost Carlos Sainz over half of second practice on Friday after the Ferrari driver locked his rear brakes and hit the concrete wall.

We can confirm that sadly Esteban won’t be taking part in qualifying this afternoon. His chassis was cracked in the impact with the barrier and cannot be changed in time. Esteban is physically fine and will race tomorrow.#MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/iz8knwj7t0

— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 7, 2022