McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has been hit with a 3 place grid drop for impeding Kevin Magnussen during Q1 ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Following a stellar qualifying performance from the young Australian to secure P2, Oscar Piastri has been awarded a 3 place grid penalty by the stewards for impeding Kevin Magnussen in the Haas during the first part of qualifying this afternoon.
Piastri, who appeared before the stewards at 18.15 local time this evening with a summons being issued immediately following the conclusion of the session, was awarded the penalty which is in line with similar incidents. Piastri will now start from P5 for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
The infringement in question occurred in Q1, as Piastri exiting the pite, blocking Kevin Magnussen in turn 2 and 3, with Magnussen failing to progress to Q2 as a result. The stewards reached their decision following a hearing with both Piastri and Magnussen, and after reviewing footage and telemetry deemed Piastri had in fact impeded Magnussen.
The stewards decision reads:
The Stewards accepted the explanation of Piastri that because of the layout of the circuit at that location, he could not see Magnussen until it was too late, at which time he tried to accelerate away in order to get clear of Magnussen as quickly as possible.
Magnussen acknowledged that it was difficult for drivers to see cars behind in many portions of the track, including here. However, the Stewards reviewed the team radio and Piastri’s team did not warn him of the much faster approaching car until Magnussen was too close for Piastri to do anything to safely avoid mpeding. In fact there was an approximately 140km/h speed differential and Magnussen was only approximately 40-50m behind at the time and this meant that Piastri was in the middle of the chicane when Magnussen caught up directly behind Piastri. Further, it was clear that Magnussen was on a fast lap since his exit of Turn 19.
The Stewards also reviewed where other drivers were warned of approaching cars and it was significantly earlier, and they were able to avoid impeding at Turn 2/3. Traffic management for slower cars is an extremely important part of the team/driver combination, particularly in Q1. In this instance the Stewards determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused an “unnecessary impeding.”
Speaking after the session, Piastri explained he has been comfortable in the car all weekend and has high hopes for the Grand Prix despite Verstappen’s dominance.
“It was pretty good, a little bit of a scruffy last corner,” Piastri said. “But here it’s so, so difficult to do a perfect lap. So really happy. I’ve been really comfortable with the car from the moment we put it on track yesterday. So, so close to pole, but very happy. It’s been a little while since I’ve been back up here.
“We’ll see what we can do [tomorrow]. I think we’ve definitely been on the pace all weekend. You can never count out Max and Red Bull of course, like we’ve just seen, but I think the confidence is high. Of course it’s not the easiest track to overtake on, but the confidence is high that we can do something good.”
