Oscar Piastri was investigated for impeding Kevin Magnussen during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the F1 stewards decided his actions were worthy of punishment
Lando Norris will now start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix second behind Max Verstappen (
Image: Getty Images)
By
Daniel MoxonSenior F1 Writer
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Oscar Piastri has been stripped of his front-row qualifying berth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Piastri went second quickest behind only Max Verstappen during qualifying at Imola. And his teammate Lando Norris was third behind him, giving McLaren a two-pronged attack on the pole holder early in the race.
However, this has now been taken away from them. Piastri was accused of obstructing Kevin Magnussen during the session and the stewards decided to investigate the incident. And they came to the conclusion that the Australian’s actions deserved to be punished. He lost three places on the grid, meaning he will now start the race fifth.
His teammate Norris will inherit second place, while the punishment is also great news for the home side in Italy. Due to Piastri’s violation, both Ferrari drivers moved up on the starting grid, with Charles Leclerc in third and Carlos Sainz in fourth.
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Regarding this decision, the stewards wrote: “Piastri was coming out of the pits and Magnussen was doing a fast lap. Piastus prevented Magnussen in Shikan on movement two and three. The commissioners accepted the explanation of the piastique that, from the location of the program in this place, he could not see Magnussen before he became too late when he tried to accelerate to clarify Magnussen the faster possible. \ “Magnassen acknowledged that it was difficult for the driver to see a car in many parts of the trucks, including this, but Steward reviewed the team radio, and the pierstrest team would make a car until Magnassen approaches too much. I did not warn you to approach fast. Piastri does anything to safely avoid obstruction. “In fact, the speed difference was about 140km/h and Magnussen was only 40-50 meters behind at that point. This meant that when Magnussen caught up with Piastri right behind him, Piastri was in the middle of the chicane.”Magnussen It was clear that he was traveling at high speed from the moment he exited Turn 19. This article contains affiliate links and we will receive a commission on any sales we make from it.
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The stewards also checked much earlier where other drivers had been warned of the approaching cars and were able to avoid interference in turns two and three. Managing the movement of slow cars is an extremely important part of the team/driver, especially in the first quarter. In this case, the commissioners determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused “unnecessary interference.”
Reacting to the announcement of the sanction, team principal Andrea Stella said: “We have passed our comments on to the stewards. If that is the committee’s evaluation and decision, we will respect it. We have to improve our performance and move forward and hope that tomorrow we can regain the positions we lost today on the grid.