Painful moment for McLaren: Piastri fails to escape SQ1

F1 News

Oscar Piastri is knocked out in first part of sprint qualifying
18 October at 22:44
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Oscar Piastri failed to escape SQ1 session. The Australian made a mistake on his second run by exceeding a track limit at turn 19. He will start from 16th on the grid. It will make scoring points difficult in the 100km dash.

It's a setback for McLaren, who are looking to fight Red Bull Racing in the Constructors' Championship. They are trying to extend their lead over the Austrian team, but will struggle to add points with Piastri in Saturday's sprint race.

Piastri and McLaren had the car to make it through to the final part of sprint qualifying, but Piastri exceeded track limits, causing his time to be deleted. His team asked him to remain in the car in case any other driver made a similar mistake, but it wasn't to be.

Follow the sprint qualifying here with GPblog's liveblog!