Piastri gets first reprimand of his F1 career for 'lack of focus'

Oscar Piastri has received the first reprimand of his Formula 1 career. The Australian tried to perform a practicestart at the wrong time and has been reprimanded by race control for it.

During the third free practice session, Piastri wanted to perform a practice start, as often happens during such sessions. However, the Australian was a lap too early: the session had not yet been flagged, and so the McLaren driver was not allowed to perform a practicestart at all. The team was quick enough to warn him of his mistake, after which Piastri quickly drove on again. However, it did not go unnoticed, and so Piastri was put on the spot by race control afterwards.

Piastri acknowledges his own mistake

The official race control assessment states that Piastri admitted guilt. "The driver admitted that he had lost concentration and was preparing to do a practice start but attempted it a lap too early. The driver candidly admitted his mistake and recognized that this could have resulted in a dangerous situation on track. In accordance with previous precedents for similar infringements, we imposed a reprimand on him."

There are no consequences attached to a single reprimand. However, such a reprimand does stand for the rest of the season. In case of five reprimands, a driver receives a grid penalty of 10 spots for the next race.