FIA announce penalties for THREE F1 stars at Mexican GP as 32-year-old rookie handed shock point

Ryo Hirakawa had a dream F1 debut at the Mexican Grand Prix after a trio of penalties somehow promoted him into a points finish.

The 32-year-old Japanese star stepped in for the first F1 race of his long career at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after Haas made the shock decision on Saturday to replace Esteban Ocon.

Hirakawa would finish Sunday's 71-lap race out of the points on track, but late penalty chaos would then see him promoted to P10 and a points finish on debut.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton blasts FIA stewards over Leclerc decision as Mexican GP stopped after 200mph crash

Piastri, Gasly and Colapinto all penalised by FIA

The surprise windfall for Hirakawa came after the FIA announced penalties for McLaren's Oscar Piastri plus the Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.

Aussie star Piastri was penalised for a big collision with Racing Bulls youngster Arvid Lindblad, costing him 10 seconds following a post-race stewards hearing.

In ruling, the stewards said: "On the approach to turn 1 the driver of Car 81 attempted an overtake on the outside of Car 41. Car 81 was never fully alongside Car 41 so was not able to claim the right to the corner.

"Through turn 1, the driver of Car 41 defended his position by releasing the brakes however does not force Car 81 off the track, allowing racing room on the outside - which he is not required to do.

"The Stewards determined that the collision could have been avoided if the driver of Car 81 had moved further to the left after turn 1, even if this involved leaving the track prior to turn 2."

Gasly meanwhile was handed a stop and go penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags, with their decision revealing: "The driver and team representative claimed that the driver had made a significant reduction in speed in the double yellow flag sector however a detailed examination of the telemetry and that of other cars passing through that sector, led the Stewards to conclude that the small reduction noted was not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the regulations."

Gasly's Alpine team-mate Colapinto was given a 10-second time penalty after the racing for a similar infringement, with the stewards' report stating: "The driver and team presented telemetry and photographic evidence claiming it demonstrated that the driver had complied with the regulations which state that the driver must reduce speed and be prepared to change direction.

"A detailed examination of the telemetry and on board camera failed to satisfy the Stewards that the driver had sufficiently reduced speed through that single yellow sector.

"In relation to the previous double yellow flag sector the Stewards determined that there was sufficient doubt that the driver had sufficient warning in order to comply with the requirements, so did not determine that there was any breach in relation to that sector."

Final Mexican Grand Prix results after penalties applied

The final standings - after all those penalties had been applied - promoted Hirakawa to P10 and a point on his F1 debut:

READ MORE: Hamilton fumes at Ferrari team-mate after colliding in Mexican GP start as FIA issue penalty

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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