Piastri at risk of losing third in Italian GP qualifying for impeding Lawson
by Oleg Karpov · AutosportOscar Piastri and McLaren have been summoned for allegedly impeding Liam Lawson in Italian GP qualifying
Oscar Piastri risks losing his third place on the Italian Grand Prix grid after being summoned to the Formula 1 stewards for allegedly impeding Liam Lawson during qualifying at Monza.
The incident occurred in the dying moments of Q2, as Lawson - competing in his second Red Bull race of the year as a replacement for the injured Isack Hadjar - was preparing for his final flying lap.
Piastri was on an out-lap approaching the first chicane and slowed to allow Lawson's Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen through, with Red Bull having sent its drivers out earlier. But the McLaren driver then slotted in ahead of Lawson through the chicane, delaying the New Zealander on the exit of the corner leading onto Curva Grande.
“Yeah, I was coming out of the pits and, I mean, the speed difference out of the pits is so, so big here,” Piastri said at the FIA press conference ahead of his meeting with the stewards.
“So, yeah, I don't really know where he came from. I need to review with the team.”
Lawson subsequently failed to progress from Q2, ending the session in 14th place.
However, the incident will not affect Lawson's actual starting position, as he was already set to start from the back of the grid after Red Bull introduced new power unit components to the RB22 he is driving this weekend.
Piastri, meanwhile, progressed to Q3 and went on to qualify third, behind shock polesitter Pierre Gasly and Mercedes driver George Russell.
His starting position is now under threat after both Piastri and Lawson were summoned to see the stewards at 17:40 local time.
The FIA summons states that Piastri is being investigated for an alleged breach of Article B4.1.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Regulations, with the incident officially described as car 81 "allegedly impeding car 30 at turn 2 at 16:38".
Lawson and a Red Bull team representative have also been summoned over the same incident.
A penalty for Piastri could therefore change the second row of the grid for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
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