Oscar Piastri has hit out at the “embarrassing” decision to strip him of his fastest lap in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying for a track limits violation.
On his final lap in Q3, Piastri set a time good enough to slot into P3 on the grid behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen and McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, but the time was quickly deleted for running wide at Turn 6 and exceeding track limits.
This dropped Piastri to seventh on a weekend track limit violations have not been a major factor owing to major work done at the Red Bull Ring after the fiasco of 2023, where 1,200 instances of violations were recorded in the race alone.
Gravel strips have been placed on the outside of Turns 6, 9 and 10 to prevent drivers running wide, and this has had the desired effect, but Piastri felt he did not run wide and off the track, with McLaren set to appeal the decision.
“For me, it is embarrassing, we do all this work on track limits, put gravel in places and I didn’t even go off the track, I stayed on the track,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It was probably my best Turn 6 and it gets deleted.
“I don’t know why they’ve spent hundreds of thousands or millions trying to change the last two corners when there are other corners you can go off at, but anyway, everyone else stayed on the track, and I didn’t.”
Piastri not happy at decision
Piastri also criticised the decision for the fact that he was pushing on the limit of the car and was penalised for it.
“It was the best I took Turn 6, I was right on the limit of the track, and I think that is what everyone wants to see,” he added.
‘We’ve spent so much effort trying to get rid of these problems, and there is no reason this corner should be an issue for track limits, especially when you stay on the track like I did.
“Obviously being the only one it happened to, I’m probably more vocal about it right now, but it is embarrassing that you see us pushing to the limit of what we can do, and if I am one centimetre wider, I am in the gravel and completely ruin my lap anyway.”