by SIMONE PELUSO
“We didn’t have to worry about the white lines anymore, and instead I got screwed“. As Oscar Piastri he appeared in front of the journalists’ microphones immediately after the qualifying sessions of the Austrian Grand Prix, furious about the erasure of his time best in Q3 for passing i track limits in curve 6.
Changes to the limits of the track and gravel, but that’s not enough
Although the white lines have been moved back and placed almost in correspondence with the external gravel (thereby also reducing the curbs) and the insertion of gravel trap exiting turns 9 and 10 (all to avoid paradoxical situations like in 2023), the Race Direction has However, some time trials were cancelled during the session. Piastri paid the brunt of it, going from third to seventh, but in Q2 Gasly also lost a position due to the cancellation of his last attempt (the Frenchman was eliminated anyway).
McLaren’s protest
In light of all this and the briefing with drivers and teams, the McLaren did not accept the decision of the FIA and has put forward a official protest to ask for a review of the results of Saturday’s qualification. Andrea Stella himself declared the decision at least unclear: “The track limits verification system is old and is not applied equally for everyone. We are not satisfied with the evidence provided by the Race Direction, because the images are blurry and in shadow.”
But all in vain: the Federation deemed the protest inadmissible and Piastri will therefore be forced to start on the fourth row in tomorrow’s race.
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