Oscar Piastri loses front-row start after impeding penalty

After an impressive session, Piastri is hit with an impeding penalty which drops him down the pecking order.

Oscar Piastri crossed the line in second during the Q3 shootout, slotting behind Max Verstappen by just 0.007 seconds. What would’ve been the best start of his 2024 season, has since been penalised after an impeding incident involving Kevin Magnussen in Q1.

During the session, it seemed the Australian blocked Magnussen at Turn 2 which subsequently saw the Haas driver being eliminated from the session. After an impressive showing throughout the weekend, topping the FP3 timing sheets, it ends in disappointment with Piastri dropping down to fifth.

The penalty means Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc move up the pecking order and slot behind Verstappen to round out the top three. Carlos Sainz also gets promoted to the second row.

The stewards issue their findings

The report published by the stewards goes into detail about their reasoning for their penalty on the Australian. In their findings they state that Piastri exited the pits when Magnussen was on a flying lap, Piastri told the stewards he wasn’t aware of Magnussen which was due to a lack of communication from McLaren – which both the stewards and Magnussen accept.

There was a 140kpm difference in speed between the pair and whilst the rest on the grid were aware of the Dane on his fastest lap, Piastri was not:

“Piastri was exiting the pits and Magnussen was on his fast lap. Piastri impeded Magnussen at the chicane at Turns Two and Three.

“The Stewards accepted the explanation of Piastri that because of the layout of the circuit at that location, he could not see Magnussen until it was too late, at which time he tried to accelerate away in order to get clear of Magnussen as quickly as possible.

“Magnussen acknowledged that it was difficult for drivers to see cars behind in many portions of the track, including here. However, the Stewards reviewed the team radio and Piastri’s team did not warn him of the much faster approaching car until Magnussen was too close for Piastri to do anything to safely avoid impeding.

“In fact, there was an approximately 140km/h speed differential and Magnussen was only approximately 40-50m behind at the time and this meant that Piastri was in the middle of the chicane when Magnussen caught up directly behind Piastri. Further, it was clear that Magnussen was on a fast lap since his exit of Turn 19.”

The report concluded with: “In this instance the Stewards determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused an ‘unnecessary impeding’.”

The full starting grid for Sunday’s race around Imola can be found here.

Featured image credits: Qian Jun/MB Media via Getty Images