FIA decide on McLaren's protest against results of qualifying in Austria
F1 News
- Nicole Mulder
The FIA has rejected McLaren's protest against the result of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. The governing body sees no reason to change the result after the Woking-based Formula 1 team appealed against it over Oscar Piastri's deleted lap time.
FIA rejects McLaren's protest
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.
Team boss Andrea Stella did not find the FIA's evidence convincing enough and believed that it could not be determined without some conclusive evidence that the driver had exceeded the track limits.The stewards did not go along with this.
They decided that the protest could not be allowed for the following reason: "A decision by the stewards is not open to protest." Moreover, they ruled that the protest did not meet all the requirements: for example, it was not addressed to the right person and it was not clear against whom the protest was made. McLaren would not take any further action following the stewards decision.
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.
