Esteban Ocon has revealed that his championship celebrations were forced to be put on hold momentarily in Abu Dhabi following an appeal by Trident Racing after the finale of the GP3 Series season.
Trident, who ran Luca Ghiotto to second place in the championship, lodged the appeal after Ocon knocked into the Italian’s car at the start as the ART Grand Prix driver made a move to pass between both Ghiotto and Matt Parry on the run down to the first corner.
“I went right between the two of them – we spent quite a lot of time with the stewards because of that,” said Ocon to Motorsport.com.
“They lodged a complaint. Until the end, they refused to let go of us, but it’s not a big deal, it was a racing incident.”
Had Ocon been penalised five seconds like he had during the Feature race in Abu Dhabi, Ghiotto would have taken the title, but the appeal was dismissed, meaning Ocon was confirmed as champion, his second title in two years following on from his European Formula 3 crown in 2014.
