Piastri Urges Stricter Rules for Off-Track Moves

Oscar Piastri criticizes current F1 penalties for off-track overtaking, calling for stricter enforcement.

Oscar Piastri was displeased with Kevin Magnussen’s comments admitting to deliberately blocking and forcing other drivers off the track. The McLaren F1 driver is concerned that the Dane’s honesty seemed to lessen his penalties.

“I saw his comments after the sprint race, saying he deserved all the penalties he received,” stated the Australian. “I think the fact that the penalized driver says he deserves all the penalties, and that’s the path they’ve chosen to take, obviously does not set a good precedent for everyone.”

“Receiving penalties and saying ‘Well, it was a bit 50/50, or I got caught’ is one thing, but to receive as many penalties and say ‘Yeah, I deserve all of them’ sets a very risky precedent that should probably be controlled more severely.”

Piastri believes the FIA should take more drastic measures against a driver who overtakes off-track and blocks others by imposing a Drive Through penalty: “We’ve had a lot of discussions with the stewards and the FIA about what happens if you go off-track and gain an advantage.”

“I think there are certain scenarios where it is very difficult to give the position back. Let’s say you overtake someone, and if it’s 50/50, and the FIA asks you to return the position, but then you end up behind other people, is it still fair or not?”

“But I think in this situation, all these issues would have been resolved if the FIA had said to return the position, and if not, it was a Drive Through. Just eliminate it one way or another. If you take the risk of questioning whether you need to return the position or not, if you know you’ll have to face a penalty, you’re going to give the position back.”

Piastri explains that this had already happened in Jeddah, with the same Magnussen, but he especially thinks that the fact that it’s admitted by the driver is a bad thing: “So I think we should be stricter in this regard.”

“I think the fact that it’s not the first time this has happened, regardless of it being the same team, and that the driver receiving penalties openly admits he deserves them and did it for the team, is not correct to me.”