In the first part of qualifying (Q1) at the Imola Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri blocked Kevin Magnussen of Haas as they approached the Tamburello chicane. This incident ruined Magnussen’s session, causing him to finish 18th, while his teammate Nico Hulkenberg advanced to the final part of qualifying (Q3).
Piastri explained that he didn’t see Magnussen coming because of a curve in the main straight before Turn 2, which created a blind spot in his mirror. Despite understanding Piastri’s situation, the FIA race stewards decided that it was the team’s responsibility to warn Piastri about approaching traffic in time. They noted that the team had managed this correctly in all other instances on Saturday.
The stewards wrote: “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. Traffic management for slower cars is an extremely important part of the team/driver combination, particularly in Q1. In this instance the stewards determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused an ‘unnecessary impeding.'”
As a result, Piastri received a three-place grid penalty, dropping him from second to fifth after qualifying just a tenth of a second behind Max Verstappen, who secured pole position. This penalty allowed Lando Norris and both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to move up a spot.
McLaren’s team boss Andrea Stella accepted the decision, acknowledging that the team should have communicated better. “The assessment and the judgment of the stewards, we respect it,” said Stella. “We need to improve our operations. We move on and hopefully tomorrow we will recover the positions that we lost today on the grid.”
Despite the penalty, Piastri was encouraged by McLaren’s progress, which was confirmed at Imola after a strong performance in Miami. He received the full upgrade package from the team and felt positive about the car’s performance.
“I’ve been happy with it all weekend to be honest, from the start of P1 all the way through qualifying,” Piastri said. “Having parts that you know are going to make the car faster is always a confidence boost. I think our long runs yesterday looked good, but it’s very, very close. I think that’s been the story of the season and the last few races, everyone’s been so tight. Overtaking is very tough here, but I think we can be optimistic.”
