Oscar Piastri finished second in the sprint race in Austria. After a challenging weekend in Barcelona, the Australian was back in competition with teammate Lando Norris and main rival Max Verstappen. However, things went awry during the qualifiers. Piastri had to forfeit his third starting position for exceeding the track limits. “Embarrassing,” said the McLaren driver.
While Lando Norris will start behind Max Verstappen on Sunday, Piastri now has to settle for the seventh time. His MCL38 just crossed the limit in turn 6 – a rare violation of track limits this weekend. McLaren has since lodged an objection to the decision. A ‘frustrated’ Piastri has already accepted it.
Driver’s Reaction to Penalty
“It’s embarrassing, for me it was the best turn 6 of the whole weekend,” responded the 23-year-old driver. “Formula 1 has done a great job of curbing these violations, so it’s quite impressive that they’ve found one anyway,” he said cynically. “I was a centimeter away from being in the gravel trap – for me, that’s what Formula 1 is all about, always driving on the limit. It’s a shame that you then lose your time.”
Piastri’s Prediction for the Weekend
Piastri predicts ‘a tough weekend’, especially now that he knows the margin between McLaren and Red Bull is so small. He was therefore surprised that Verstappen still recorded such a monstrous time in qualifying. “His lap was a reality check for us,” he laughed. “It can be very painful – we are so close to each other these days, sometimes you are a few milliseconds above and sometimes a few milliseconds below. But that’s why we all drive on the limit.”
