Ocon was penalized five seconds at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix for being too far to the right of his grid.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was similarly penalized after lining up to the left in the Saudi Arabian race that followed.

Following these penalties, the FIA ​​responded by widening the grid frame by 20cm for the third grand prix in Melbourne. It’s also experimenting with a new leading line in the first few grid boxes.

By 2023, grid boxes are already 20 centimeters wider than the previous year, based on driver feedback.

But despite the extra profit, Ocon believes the current low visibility of F1 cars will result in more drivers being penalized this year.

“There will be more cars penalized this year, that’s for sure,” Ocon said.

“It looks silly that we get punished for these things because it looks so simple, but it’s because we can’t see anything from where we sit.

“We worked a lot with my team trying to get me to sit low in the car, to have a lower position. We obviously broke the rules, so we should be punished.”

Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon at the drivers parade

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

Ocon did concede that the extra width should help, even if starting out of position laterally is “not usually an advantage” and therefore not worth the penalty as much as starting too far forward.

“Compared to last year, it’s been 20 centimeters wider this year. Now they’re 20 centimeters wider, so it’s clearly going in the right direction,” he explained.

“It’s an advantage when you get too high and if we get too high we always get penalized.

“Before if we were a little bit to the left or to the right we weren’t penalized because it wasn’t usually an advantage. Now the rules have changed and obviously it’s the same for everyone, so that’s what we need to be mindful of and let it be. That should help.”

Drivers are divided on whether the grille box has become a real problem in the 2022 car era. While Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas admitted that visibility was limited, he was surprised to see Ocon and Alonso miss their grid.

“I’m very surprised by what happened because I don’t really see anything wrong with it,” Bottas replied when Autosport told him of Ocon’s comments.

“When you get into the box, yes, now with high-rider cars the visibility and everything; it might not be the same as it was 10 years ago. But you should still be able to see where you’re going.

“Personally I don’t think there’s a problem with that, but maybe it’s because different cars have different kinds of winglets and stuff.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris was also baffled by the grid becoming a topic.

“I think it was easy from day one,” he added. “Honestly, I don’t think they need to change that. Just line up in the grid box, very easy.”

Additional reporting by Adam Cooper