Will Oscar Piastri have to serve McLaren FIA penalty at Singapore GP?

Oscar Piastri picked up an FIA penalty during the last F1 race in Baku, but will he have to serve it at the Singapore Grand Prix?

The Aussie endured a disastrous race weekend in Azerbaijan, where he crashed out on the opening lap and left without a single point.

However, Piastri’s woes began just before his crash where he jumped the start, a mistake which came to the attention of the stewards.

Piastri was awarded a five-second time penalty, alongside Fernando Alonso who also jumped the start. Although Alonso served his penalty during the race, Piastri was unable to do the same after his crash, which led to questions over whether he would have to serve the penalty at the next round, the Singapore GP.

Will Piastri serve his Baku penalty?

Thankfully for Piastri, the McLaren star will not serve the five-second time penalty from the Azerbaijan GP, in what could have been a blow to his championship chances.

A statement from the FIA in Baku confirmed that the time penalty would not carry over into the Singapore GP, with the stewards making no mention of a penalty in their official decision document.

They wrote in Baku: “The stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, team and in-car video evidence.

“The video evidence clearly showed the car moving prior to the start signal for the race was given."

The FIA’s punishment guidelines also state: “In cases where there is a single five second penalty which a driver is unable to serve due to retirement, the stewards will not convert that into a grid penalty for a subsequent race.

“However, if there is more than one penalty, the stewards may convert the 5s (and other) penalties into a grid penalty."

Heading into the Singapore GP, Piastri leads his team-mate Lando Norris by 25 points in the standings, after Norris only managed a P7 finish in Baku.

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