Oscar Piastri has lost his P7 finish in the Mexico City Grand Prix after receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad.
The McLaren racer had recovered well from his surprise Q2 exit that left him in the P12 grid slot at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, improving to the top 10 early on before progressing to seventh through the pit stops.
However, Lindblad found a way past on the Safety Car restart and demoted Piastri to P8, which the Aussie quickly sought to reverse. Coming around the outside at Turn 1, he held on until his front tyre made contact with Lindblad’s left rear, sending the latter skidding into the barriers.
As a result, Piastri was handed a time penalty and has dropped to P15 in the classification, promoting Audi‘s Gabriel Bortoleto into the points.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 81 (Piastri), the driver of Car 41 (Lindblad), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence,” read the stewards’ decision document.
“On the approach to turn 1 the driver of Car 81 attempted an overtake on the outside of Car 41. Car 81 was never fully alongside Car 41 so was not able to claim the right to the corner. Through turn 1, the driver of Car 41 defended his position by releasing the brakes however does not force Car 81 off the track, allowing racing room on the outside – which he is not required to do.
“The Stewards determined that the collision could have been avoided if the driver of Car 81 had moved further to the left after turn 1, even if this involved leaving the track prior to turn 2.”
Piastri therefore leaves Mexico City with zero points, marking his fourth non-scoring round of the season after Australia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.
