At Imola, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren came within a tenth of Max Verstappen’s pole time.
Oscar Piastri has been given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen during Q1 at Imola on Saturday.
Due to an impressive performance in qualifying, the McLaren driver was initially scheduled to begin the race from the second position on the grid. However, circumstances have changed, and they will now commence from the fifth spot instead. This alteration occurred because Lando Norris, their teammate, will now take their place on the front row. Additionally, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have also benefited from this shift and moved up one position.
Oscar Piastri penalised over Kevin Magnussen impeding incident
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
The Haas driver was filled with anger as he believed he had lost downforce while maneuvering through Tamburello during his last qualifying lap in Q1. Unfortunately, the Danish driver was eliminated in the initial stage, while the McLaren driver went on to secure the second spot on the starting grid.
Magnussen expressed his immediate frustration over team radio, exclaiming, “I am absolutely astonished. This is beyond belief. It is truly unbelievable.”
Afterward, he was spotted carefully maneuvering his car up to Variante Alta, cautiously avoiding other vehicles on the track. Unfortunately, the Haas driver failed to advance past Q1, whereas his teammate Nico Hulkenberg successfully made it into Q3.
After being knocked out of qualifying, both Magnussen and Piastri were summoned by the stewards to provide their perspectives on the incidents. Magnussen expressed his thoughts to various media outlets, including PlanetF1.com.
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“Yeah, it’s really frustrating,” he remarked. “I mean, this is like the fourth or fifth time this year that we encounter traffic during the crucial qualifying lap.”
“I believe our timing for leaving the pit is not any different from others, but it seems like bad luck has been our constant companion. At this point, it sounds more like a feeble excuse than a valid explanation.”
“I need to practice patience, even though it’s challenging as it significantly impacts my season.”
Piastri, on the other hand, expressed his surprise at not anticipating Magnussen’s arrival, considering the cars were hurtling towards the Tamburello chicane at approximately 200mph before entering the braking zone.
He stated that he would wait for the stewards’ decision before making any additional comments.
“In the post-race press conference,” he stated, “I need to witness it from a slightly more distant perspective.”
“When I checked the mirrors, there were no cars approaching, but suddenly, he appeared out of nowhere. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the situation and await the stewards’ decision.”
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