F1 driver comes terrifyingly close to running someone over in heartstopping footage
F1 fans were left shocked after seeing how terrifyingly close one car came to running a photographer over.
The clip was aired seconds after the incident took place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier today.
The F1’s ruling body have now launched an investigation into the near disaster.
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It happened as the Formula One race was coming to an end, with Esteban Ocon pulling in to take his mandate break mere moments before Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the Grand Prix.
At the same time, photographers began to rush to get pictures of the winner and his teammate, Max Verstappen, who came second.
Thinking the race was over and unable to hear the tannoy, staff also began to congregate and began putting barriers.
However, the race was far from over with Ocon still hurtling toward the pitstop.
Thankfully, the driver narrowly avoided hitting any of the pedestrians as he pulled in.
Photographers and staff scattered as the Alpine driver swung into his team’s bay, with several people only just avoiding serious injury.
Footage from inside the car is even more terrifying, as it shows various photojournalists and support crew members in the driver’s path as he finished his final lap.
Whilst no one was injured and the race was able to continue, the near miss has rattled F1 officials and the sport’s governing body, the FiA.
In a statement, the stewards said: “The Stewards heard from the FIA representatives and determined that the relevant representatives took steps to set up the parc ferme area and also permitted media and other personnel to gather in the start of the pit lane and the pit wall during the last lap of the race, while the pit lane was open and before the final pit stop.
"We noted that it was not unusual for the representatives to allow such persons into the pit lane just before the end of the race, in the usual course of preparation for parc ferme and the podium ceremony.
"However, in this case, there was one driver that had to pit in the last lap and this created a very dangerous situation for those that were in the pit lane at the time.
"We considered that it was fortunate that there were no serious consequences on account of what happened today. We stressed that the requirements of ensuring a safe and orderly event are paramount. This was acknowledged by the FIA team.”
The statement continued to say that they had 'walked through the relevant procedures and protocol with the FIA representatives in detail and required them to take immediate steps to reconsider these procedures' so another incident like this wouldn't 'occur again'.
They concluded: "The FIA representatives expressed their regret at what happened and assured us that they would do so in time for the next event."
Ocon also said that his car 'got close to them and I had to back off' and said he wouldn't have liked to have been in pit 'with the speed I was arriving'.
"It could have been a big disaster." he said.
LADbible has reached out to F1 and FiA for additional comment.
Topics: Formula 1, Cars, TV and Film
Katherine Sidnell