F1 News: Oscar Piastri Loses Imola Front Row After Post-Qualifying Penalty

Oscar Piastri's promising start at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has taken a downturn following a grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen during qualifying. Initially placed second, the McLaren driver will now start from the fifth position.

The race stewards determined that Piastri had impeded the Haas driver as he was not informed of him approaching behind him. The official statement from the stewards read:

"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 81 (Oscar Piastri), the driver of Car 20 (Kevin Magnussen), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, team provided telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence. Piastri was exiting the pits and Magnussen was on his fast lap. Piastri impeded Magnussen at the chicane at Turns 2 and 3.

"The Stewards accepted the explanation of Piastri that because of the layout of the circuit at that location, he could not see Magnussen until it was too late, at which time he tried to accelerate away in order to get clear of Magnussen as quickly as possible. Magnussen acknowledged that it was difficult for drivers to see cars behind in many portions of the track, including here.

"However, the Stewards reviewed the team radio and Piastri's team did not warn him of the much faster approaching car until Magnussen was too close for Piastri to do anything to safely avoid impeding. In fact there was an approximately 140km/h speed differential and Magnussen was only approximately 40-50m behind at the time and this meant that Piastri was in the middle of the chicane when Magnussen caught up directly behind Piastri. Further, it was clear that Magnussen was on a fast lap since his exit of Turn 19.

"The Stewards also reviewed where other drivers were warned of approaching cars and it was significantly earlier, and they were able to avoid impeding at Turn 2/3. Traffic management for slower cars is an extremely important part of the team/driver combination, particularly in Q1. In this instance the Stewards determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused an 'unnecessary impeding.'"

Following the penalty, Piastri's teammate, Lando Norris, benefitted by moving up to join Verstappen on the front row. This shuffle also favored the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who moved up to occupy the second row.