Piastri handed 10-second penalty in Mexico GP, drops out of points

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri received a 10-second time penalty from FIA stewards for contact with Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad at the Mexico Grand Prix. The penalty pushed the Australian out of the points, having crossed the line in seventh.

Piastri's weekend had started poorly in qualifying. His run of 60 consecutive appearances in Q3, including sprint races, ended at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he qualified 12th. He gained three places at the start of the race and then passed Franco Colapinto and Lindblad to move up to seventh.

Safety car erases gap

When Valtteri Bottas crashed and retired, Piastri was 13 seconds ahead of Lindblad. The safety car and the subsequent rolling restart closed that gap almost to zero, and Lindblad got ahead of Piastri at the start. Piastri then pressed his rival for 12 laps and attacked around the outside into Turn 1. Going into Turn 2 on the inside, he did not brake early enough and his front-right tyre hit the rear-left of Lindblad's car. Lindblad went into the barriers.

Stewards' decision and driver comments

According to the stewards' report, Piastri never drew fully alongside Lindblad as they approached Turn 1 and so had no right to the corner. Lindblad held his line by lifting off the brakes, did not push Piastri off the track and left room on the outside. The stewards concluded that had Piastri turned in more to the left after Turn 1, contact could have been avoided, even if that meant running wide.

Piastri said Lindblad had shut the door too late and pushed him wide. He added that both cars were running straight at the moment of contact, that he was trying to back off, and that he was already off the racing line. Lindblad did not comment because he had not seen the incident, but said he had fought a genuine race and would not let Piastri pass easily on the outside.

Piastri finished the race in the damaged McLaren. He said he knew from his race engineer Tom Stallard's voice that the damage was significant, and that a later inspection of the car confirmed it was serious. He said the car still had the pace to hold on to the end, but that the final 10 laps were not easy.