FIA issue McLaren punishment verdict after Piastri incident at Dutch GP

McLaren have been hit with a punishment at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, with the panel of stewards delivering a verdict against them.

A bizarre pit lane incident in FP2 saw Oscar Piastri zig-zagging and nearly collecting George Russell, leaving the team possibly reaching for their newly acquired Mastercard (surely they get a corporate one with the new sponsorship deal) to pay a €5,000 fine.

The Australian was coming back to the pits on Friday afternoon after a red flag was brought out thanks to Alex Albon getting stuck in a gravel trap, but his pit box was briefly blocked by a member of the pit crew pushing some equipment.

Piastri was waved into the next pit box along, resulting in him veering back out into the fast lane and into the path of Russell behind him, with the Mercedes driver slamming on his brakes to avoid a collision.

Neither driver appeared too hampered by the near miss, with Piastri and Russell finishing FP2 in P3 and P4 respectively.

McLaren fined for Zandvoort pit-lane incident

The team were punished for not managing that situation in a way which ensured the safety of the pit crew member, and contributing to a situation which could have resulted in a collision.

The official decision from the FIA read: “The stewards heard from the driver of Car 81 (Oscar Piastri), team representative and reviewed video, team radio and in-car video evidence. Car 81 attempted to leave the fast lane and enter its pit box during a Red Flag period in Free Practice 2.

"As Car 81 approached the pit box, the entry was blocked by team personnel pushing a rear jack. Another team member signalled Car 81 to go around him to the next pit area which he did. In doing so, he turned back briefly within the fast lane and thereafter entered the pit box. All of this resulted in Car 63 having to brake heavily and take evasive action.

"No collision was caused, however, the situation could have resulted in one. It could also have resulted in injury to one or more team personnel in the pit lane. The team acknowledged that the driver was not warned and also recognised that they could have managed the situation better. We agreed that the team should have taken more care in managing the entry of Car 81 into the pit box.

"Although we issued the Summons based on Article 55.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, we felt that Article 12.2.1.h better reflected the infringement by the team in this instance. We therefore imposed a fine of €5,000 under that Article.”

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