Oscar Piastri has called for “a better solution” to avoid a repeat of the track limits chaos witnessed over the latest Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Piastri at least avoided being on the roll call of drivers punished with a five-second time penalty for going beyond the white lines at Turns 9 and 10, in particular, and resulted in the FIA deleting ‘in excess of 100’ laps for the infringement.
The young Australian, however, did fall foul in qualifying for the grand prix on Friday evening when he made a mistake in Q2 and was punished with a track limits violation that if avoided would have seen him reach the top-10 shoot-out.
Motorsport’s governing body has now called on bosses at the Red Bull Ring to install gravel traps, as has been recommended in the past.
Speedcafe can reveal Michael Masi made such a recommendation during his time as race director, a point underlined by one of his successors, Niels Wittich, following last year’s event to ensure there was a natural deterrent.
Whilst there is understanding from the FIA with regard to the needs of other series that use the track, such as MotoGP, it feels action is finally required.
Reflecting on the farce that unfolded, particularly in qualifying on Friday and especially the grand prix, McLaren driver Piastri said: “It was tricky.
“On the first lap, when you’re following someone very closely, you can easily lose half a metre, let alone a few centimetres off your line, and it’s tricky to manage that.
“I heard (Yuki) Tsunoda had a 10-second penalty (for repeat infringements) – and he was lucky not to get a few more, to be honest.
“But it’s never fun to have to go through a race and work out who’s got penalties, and in qualifying, crossing the line, and then waiting for a minute to see if you’re in or out because of track limits.
“Obviously, I know it’s the same for everyone but we can try and do things to make the spectacle better for everyone.
“As drivers, and for everyone watching on TV – and we have to account for MotoGP who use the track as well – we have to come up with a better solution.
“It gets to a point where we try our hardest but when we’re on the limit and these little things can push you over the edge, it’s not easy.”
The weekend overall was one of disappointment for Piastri, sparked by the fact team-mate Lando Norris was handed upgrades to the MCL60, while the young Australian ran with the old specification of car.
The difference in performance was apparent at times, and played a part in Norris finishing fifth (promoted to fourth after a post-race penalty for Sainz) and Piastri 17th of the 19 classified.
The Melburnian has revealed he was not helped by the fact he was forced into making an extra pit stop for a front-wing change after running into the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
“There were three cars in front of me kind of having their own incident,” said Piastri.
“Then they all stood on the brakes mid-corner and I didn’t have anywhere to go, so that was frustrating, and then the pace wasn’t great.”
Reflecting on his second sprint weekend in F1, asked whether he found it easier to get up to speed, he said: “Yes and no. It’s been different circumstances.
“First, I haven’t had food poisoning (as was the case at the first sprint event in Azerbaijan) so that’s been positive!
“But then also the weather has been a big factor this weekend, and me and Lando have had different cars, so it’s been a bit tricky to compare across cars.
“I think the pace on Friday was good, just a shame about the track limits in qualifying, otherwise we could have had both cars in Q3 on pace. I feel like from that side of things, I did a decent job.
“As for the race, I need to look back and see if there’s anything I could have done to make my race pace a bit better.
“Obviously it’s tricky with no direct comparison (to Norris), but I was quite happy with the weekend, other than the mistakes in qualifying and stuff.”
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