After 'Throwing Up' During Race, Ocon Urges F1 To Move Qatar Race To Colder Months

Monday, 09 October 2023 at 13:30

Updated at Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 22:41

Alpine F1 driver Esteban Ocon reflected on the "toughest race" in his career after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon, who started the race in the eighth position, managed to finish the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix in seventh. The French driver collected seven valuable points for the Alpine Formula One team.

However, as Ocon describes, the race and the 7 points were the toughest in his career. The temperature above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and humidity above 70 percent resulted in conditions reminding the hell to multiple drivers.

McLaren driver Lando Norris also described the race as the toughest in his career. Williams driver Logan Sargeant retired as he felt so unwell he could not finish the race. Lance Stroll said he was "passing out in the car."

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Esteban Ocon said during the post-race interview in response to winning 7 points: "They were the hardest ever, that’s for sure. It’s been the toughest race, I mean that air that we get into the cockpit is just horrible. It’s like, fire going through the helmet."

Trying to handle the harsh conditions, Ocon recollected he felt ill by lap 15-16 and then threw up a couple of times in the car. Nonetheless, the Frenchman showed what he was made of as he managed to fight through this state to finish P7 in the end.

"Honestly, I felt ill by laps 15-16, I was throwing up in the car and I’ve managed to come down afterwards, tried to really focus on what I had to do and I’ve managed to get that under control. Let’s come back here in December please, not October because that was definitely a tough one."

— Esteban Ocon

Ocon finished the interview by urging F1 to race in a colder month like December rather than October. Multiple drivers might agree as the hot and humid conditions proved to be worse than in Singapore, which used to be a race notorious for being the most physically challenging.