McLaren hit with stewards verdict amid challenging Japan FP3 outing

Piastri, alongside a McLaren team representative, was summoned by the stewards after the Australian driver impeded the Audi driver on a push lap.

Specifically, Piastri was weaving across the track to warm up his tyres on the straight between turns 14 and 15 when Hulkenberg approached on a push lap.

The McLaren team radio informed Piastri of the approaching Audi, at which point he eventually stopped his weaving. However, he remained on the racing line and moved off line too late, with the closing speed of the two cars forcing Hulkenberg to abort his push lap.

The stewards, however, handed Piastri only a warning after the 24-year-old admitted to misjudging Hulkenberg’s closing speed. The McLaren driver also noted that he placed significant reliance on his virtual mirrors, as was his habit last year, before acknowledging that he had indeed impeded the German driver.

Aside from the stewards’ summons, the McLaren outfit faced another major issue with Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris.

The reigning world champion encountered a problem with the Energy Recovery System (ERS) on his car just ahead of the final practice session. The McLaren team, however, managed to fix the problem and sent him out for a couple of laps before the end of the session.

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