Oscar Piastri reprimanded for pit lane incident in FP2 at F1 Italian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has avoided a grid penalty for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Piastri was investigated after failing to follow the race director’s instructions.

It refers to Piastri leaving his pit box before being given the all-clear following the red flag period.

Drivers cannot enter the fast lane until given the green light from race control.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were handed one-place grid penalties earlier in the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

However, that occurred in qualifying, not free practice.

Piastri was reprimanded by the stewards.

They noted: “The team admitted during the hearing that they made a mistake as they reacted to the “track clear” message instead of reacting to the message indicating the re-start time of the session. 

“The Stewards acknowledge that, in contrast to prior incidents of similar nature happening in Qualifying, no significant sporting advantage could potentially be gained as this happened in Free Practice and therefore consider a reprimand to the competitor to be appropriate.”

Piastri gave his view on the incident: “I think we just misjudged and got confused with the messaging and timing system. We went a little bit early but not concerned.

“It might be a warning or something, but I would be surprised if it’s a sporting penalty.”

Speaking before the stewards' verdict, Sky pundit Karun Chandhok felt that just a warning was enough. 

“I just hope it’s just a warning because if it happens again on qualifying I think we’ve seen people get grid penalties before, one-place penalties,” Chandhok explained.

“I think for free practice and I think there was a bit confusion because the red flag went off the screen but it hadn’t cleared. A little bit of confusion around that. We will see. I hope it’s just a warning or a fine for the team.”

Piastri reveals setup mistake

Oscar Piastri was forced to sit out of FP1, giving his McLaren to junior driver Alex Dunne.

When he returned to action for second practice, Piastri set the second-fastest time of the session, just under two-tenths off Lando Norris’ pace.

Reflecting on FP2 at Monza, Piastri said: “Today has been a good day. Not doing FP1. I’ve had a bit of catching up to do in FP2 but I feel I hit the ground running. The car felt pretty good. I just got the setup a little bit wrong on the soft and the second lap felt pretty decent considering it was the second lap on the tyre. Feeling pretty good.

“I think it was also who was in the mix that was a surprise. The Williams have looked strong in both sessions. Let’s see if they’re still there tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a close weekend.”