Ocon to miss Miami GP qualifying after FP3 crash

Esteban Ocon will miss qualifying for the 2022 Miami Grand Prix after crashing out of final practice on Saturday afternoon.

The Alpine driver slid into the Turn 14 wall early on in FP3, the left-hand side of his Alpine hitting the barriers and the impact causing the driver to be admitted to the medical centre for precautionary checks.

While Ocon is fit to race, he will not qualify – and is therefore likely to start Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix from the pit lane, given a crack in the car’s chassis.

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“We can confirm that sadly Esteban won’t be taking part in qualifying this afternoon,” read Alpine’s tweet in the lead-up to qualifying. “His chassis was cracked in the impact with the barrier and cannot be changed in time. Esteban is physically fine and will race tomorrow.”

Alpine are sixth in the standings – three points behind Alfa Romeo – ahead of the Miami GP. Ocon is ninth in the drivers' standings with 20 points, while team mate Fernando Alonso has two points and is 15th in the championship.