Oscar Piastri's Italian Grand Prix Starting Position in Jeopardy
Oscar Piastri faces a nervous wait over his Italian Grand Prix starting position after being summoned to the stewards for allegedly impeding Liam Lawson in the closing seconds of qualifying at Monza.
The Australian had lit up the timing screens to take third on the grid behind polesitter Pierre Gasly and Mercedes’ George Russell, but that achievement now hangs in the balance.
Flashpoint in Q2
The incident came right at the death of Q2, with the field jostling for track position in classic Monza fashion.
Lawson, in only his second Red Bull outing of the year as he stands in for the injured Isack Hadjar, was winding up for his final flying lap. Piastri, on an out-lap in his McLaren, approached the first chicane and slowed to let Max Verstappen’s Red Bull through, with the team having released its cars earlier in the segment.
That’s where the trouble started.
After yielding to Verstappen, Piastri slotted in ahead of Lawson through the Variante del Rettifilo. The McLaren’s positioning through the chicane delayed the New Zealander on the exit, compromising his run onto Curva Grande at the very moment he needed clean air and full momentum.
Lawson’s lap never recovered. He failed to escape Q2 and ended the session 14th.
Piastri: “I need to review with the team”
Speaking at the FIA press conference before heading to see the stewards, Piastri admitted he had been caught out by the speed differential.
“Yeah, I was coming out of the pits and, I mean, the speed difference out of the pits is so, so big here,” he said. “So, yeah, I don't really know where he came from. I need to review with the team.”
The stewards will now do their own review.
Piastri and Lawson have both been called to appear at 17:40 local time, along with a Red Bull representative, to explain the sequence of events at Turn 2. The FIA summons cites an alleged breach of Article B4.1.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Regulations, describing the case as car 81 “allegedly impeding car 30 at turn 2 at 16:38”.
Grid stakes – but not for Lawson
On paper, Lawson’s elimination in Q2 looks costly. In reality, the incident will not change his starting position.
Red Bull had already committed him to the back of the grid by fitting new power unit components to the RB22 for this weekend, locking in heavy penalties regardless of where he qualified.
For Piastri, it is a very different story.
His progression to Q3 and subsequent run to third place had put him in prime position on the second row, ideally placed to attack Gasly and Russell at the start on Sunday. Any grid drop now would reshuffle that second row and potentially hand a major boost to the cars behind.
The stewards’ verdict will decide whether Piastri keeps his hard-earned third place or watches it disappear over a few fraught seconds at the first chicane.
