F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri blames 'mirror system' after being hit with FIA warning

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Japan, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Oscar Piastri blames 'mirror system' after being hit with FIA warning

The Australian was dinged for impeding at Suzuka

Chris Deeley

Saturday 28 March 2026 21:55

Oscar Piastri has been given an official warning by Japanese Grand Prix stewards over an incident that took place at Suzuka on Saturday.

The Australian driver was found to have impeded the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg in the final practice session of the weekend, but will not face a sporting penalty for the incident beyond his warning.

Interestingly, Piastri put some of the blame on the virtual mirrors used by F1 teams, claiming that although he relied on the virtual mirror just like last year, he misjudged how quickly the German driver would catch him.

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That, in Piastri's view, is a result of the virtual mirror system's 'refresh rate' now being insufficient to cope with the significant difference in closing speeds between 2025 and 2026.

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FIA stewards issue Piastri impeding verdict

Following the FP3 incident, the FIA issued a decision document that stated: "The Driver of Car 81 [Piastri] explained that he heard the warning of Car 27’s approach and saw Car 27 [Hulkenberg] in his mirrors as Car 27 was exiting turn 14. He said that at that point Car 27 was so far back that he believed he had ample time to warm his tyres and get over to the left at the exit of turn 15 before Car 27 would reach him.

"He said that he was using full throttle on the long straight and his telemetry confirmed this. He said that he had misjudged the closing speed on Car 27’s approach (75kph).

"The driver explained that, as was his habit last year, he was placing significant reliance on the virtual mirror system. However, this incident had demonstrated to him that, in his view, the refresh rate of the virtual mirror is insufficient to give a reliable warning to the Driver of the significant closing speeds of the 2026 cars. Nonetheless, he accepted that car 27 was unnecessarily impeded."

Interestingly, Saturday's incident was not the first time that possible flaws with the virtual mirror have been raised in meetings with the stewards.

Sergio Perez, notably, had no punishment laid at his feet for cutting into Alex Albon in FP1 on Friday, in part due to his virtual mirror not working at the time.