McLaren has been fined for the unsafe release of Oscar Piastri during Qualifying 1 at the Italian Grand Prix.
Piastri was waved out of his garage where he joined the fast lane immediately in front of Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman was forced to take evasive action with stewards critical of McLaren’s actions in creating the situation.
“The driver of Car 81 stated that whilst leaving the pit garage he checked as best he could, for cars coming down pit lane but noted that visibility from the cockpit is severely limited due to the angle of the car,” the stewards noted.
“He stated he therefore needed to rely on the signal from his mechanic, and when he was given the signal to leave, he pulled into the fast lane.
“He did not see Car 1 until it appeared in his mirrors when he was in the fast lane.
“The McLaren team representative admitted that the mechanic had misjudged the situation and that the error belonged to the Team.
“The driver of Car 1 stated that he saw the mechanic waving out Car 81 and thought that this was a “very optimistic” move.
“The Red Bull representative stressed that the mechanic should be focussing on the movement of cars in the pit lane and the Stewards noted from the pit lane CCTV video that in this case the focus appeared to be more on Car 81 than cars in pit lane.”
The result was a €10,000 (AUD $16,350) fine for the team.
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It was the second time Piastri visited the stewards on Saturday, having earlier been summoned for an incident during Free Practice 3.
The Australian was involved in a near miss for Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver dipping two wheels on the grass out of the second Lesmo when the McLaren driver moved across the track to create space for Daniel Ricciardo.
“At the approach to Turn 7 the drivers of Cars 81 and 16, on cool down laps, were both aware, via radio, of the approach of Car 3 on a push lap,” officials noted of that incident.
“After the apex, the driver of Car 81 saw Car 16 behind, and believed it would stay behind, as Car 16 had been behind for some time.
“He also checked his mirrors and expected Car 3 to overtake him on the left, so he moved further to the right to allow more space for Car 3.
“The driver of Car 16 however, thought Car 81 would remain on the left, and decided that it would make more room for Car 3, if he overtook Car 81 on the right and moved ahead of him.
“In making the overtake, Car 16 had to put two wheels off the track to avoid Car 81 which was moving to the right.
“The driver of Car 3 stated that he saw both cars side by side and decided to abort his lap rather than risk trying to pass them.
“The three drivers and their representatives agreed that the situation was caused through a misunderstanding by the drivers of Cars 81 and 16 about each other’s intentions, which were both well-intended.”
Piastri will line up second on an all-McLaren front row at the start of the Italian Grand Prix.
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