McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has expressed his frustration with the track limits penalty that dropped him from third to seventh on the starting grid for the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri’s penalty stemmed from exceeding track limits during qualifying, a recurring issue at the Spielberg circuit. While the track has seen improvements with gravel traps added to specific corners to deter drivers from exceeding limits, Piastri believes his penalty was unwarranted, as he stayed within the track boundaries. He pointed out the inconsistency of track limit enforcement, questioning why some corners are strictly penalized while others are not, despite drivers going off-track.
Piastri highlighted that he stayed on the track, only going slightly over the white line at turn six, a move he believes should not be penalized. “For me, it’s embarrassing. We do all this work with track limits, put gravel in places and I didn’t even go off the track, I stayed on the track,” he said.
He questioned the rationale behind focusing on certain corners and not others, especially when going off-track results in a significant loss of time due to the gravel traps. “There’s no reason this corner should be an issue for track limits, especially when you stay on the track like I did. Or not in the gravel,” Piastri said.
The McLaren team, however, attempted to challenge the penalty by lodging a protest but was unsuccessful, as the stewards ruled that it was not admissible.
Despite the disappointment, Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris qualified second and will start alongside Max Verstappen, who won the Saturday sprint from pole.
