Why doesn't Piastri have a grid penalty for the Singapore GP?

The championship leader had a difficult weekend in Azerbaijan.

First, Piastri crashed out in Q3, causing a red flag. That meant he had to start from ninth place on the grid.

On Sunday, the Australian then jumped the start and received a five-second time penalty. Later on Lap 1, he also crashed out, meaning he was unable to serve the penalty on track.

A couple of weeks ago at the Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was handed a 10-second time penalty for speeding under the double yellow flags during the reconnaissance lap.

Since the Briton crashed in Zandvoort before a verdict arrived, he was given five-place grid drop for the Italian Grand Prix.

While some might think that means Piastri will share the same fate, that will not be the case.

The penalty guidelines say: "In cases where there is a single 5s penalty which a driver is unable to serve due to retirement, the Stewards will not convert that into a grid penalty for a subsequent race."

This is also confirmed in the stewards' report of the penalty, where there is no mention of a grid penalty.

Piastri remains in the lead of the standings after his crash in Baku. His closest rival, Lando Norris, also failed to capitalize on the incident, as he collected only six points after finishing seventh.

After back-to-back Grand Prix victories, Max Verstappen is now 69 points behind the McLaren driver in third place.

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.