Piastri fumes after P3 time deleted: 'Embarrassing call from the stewards'
F1 News
Oscar Piastri slammed the stewards' decision to delete his lap time in qualifying. The Australian set a time fast enough to qualify in P3, one place behind his teammate Lando Norris. But the deletion means he will start from seventh, behind Mercedes and Ferrari.
His time was deleted for running wide at turn six. That corner is one of the places where new gravel traps have been added to solve problems with track limits. The change have, so far, been largely successful with a significant reduction of infringements this weekend compared to 2023. Still, Piastri is surprised by the decision.
Piastri slams the stewards' call
"For me, it's embarrassing. We do all this work for track limits, put gravel in in places, and I didn't even go off the track. I stayed on the track, and probably my best Turn 6, and it gets deleted. "I don't know why I would have spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, trying to change the last two corners when you still have corners you can go off. But anyway, everyone else kept it on the track. I didn't," Piastri told Sky Sports before continuing his message to the stewards.
"It was probably the best Turn 6 I took. I was right through the middle of the track. I think that's what everyone wants to see. Again, we've spent so much effort trying to get rid of these problems. There's no reason at this point, it should be an issue for track limits, especially when you stay the track like I did, or not in the gravel. I'm probably more vocal about it right now because it's just me, but I think it's embarrassing that you see us pushing right to the limit of what we can do, and if I'm one centimetre more, I'm in the gravel."
As it stands, Norris will once again be left to fight Max Verstappen alone. A similar occurrence happened in Spain, causing McLaren to miss out on strategic options. Sergio Perez's P8 result means the Mexican will not be able to support his teammate either.
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1 July 2024
