F1 News
McLaren will appeal the results of qualifying after 'embarrassing' call
McLaren have decided to appeal the results of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri set a time fast enough to qualify in P3, one place behind his teammate Lando Norris. But his lap time was deleted, meaning he will start from seventh, behind Mercedes and Ferrari if the appeal is not successful.
Oscar Piastri slammed the stewards' decision to delete his lap time in qualifying. Piastri said the decision was embarrassing. 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 changes have, so far, been largely successful with a significant reduction of infringements this weekend compared to 2023.
Why McLaren seek clarification
"We have sought clarification. In particular, we wanted to look at the evidence whereby the car was beyond the track limits, beyond any reasonable doubt. I cannot say that the beyond the reasonable doubt is satisfied," team boss Andrea Stella explained to GPblog and others in Austria.
"There's a couple of principles. One is that the system used needs to have adequate resolution. The second one is that the methodology used for one car needs to be applicable to all cars. If you use a helicopter view for a car, you need to use the helicopter view, and that needs to be available, for all cars. We are normally very supportive of the FIA. We always recognise that everyone is trying their best, but in this case, we couldn't agree that the car is beyond the track limit, beyond any reasonable doubt, and satisfying the two conditions I said before. The discussion is still ongoing."
"What we used is a fixed camera and a helicopter view, but I don't think we can say that the resolution is adequate. We had the case last year in Qatar when Lando was spotted beyond the track limits by the helicopter view and there's clear resolution and accuracy that the car is outside. No point, thank you very much and we move forward. But in this case it's just everything blurred and affected by the shadow. It's there's quite a lot to come here, compete, put together qualifying laps and when the penalty is so severe, like having the lap deleted, then we need to make sure that the penalties and forms is enforced beyond any reasonable doubt."
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.