McLaren fined €10,000 during qualifying at Monza
At the very end of Q1, McLaren released Oscar Piastri in a very dangerous manner. The accident with Max Verstappen was very close.
A simple action that could have turned into a drama. And, at the same time, it costs a lot. At the very end of Q1, the drivers were leaving the pits for one last attempt. Max Verstappen, who was in the fast lane of the pits, had to brake hard to avoid Oscar Piastri. McLaren had released their driver without taking into account the presence of the three-time world champion.
Questioned about this during the press conference, the Australian driver assured that he did not see the Red Bull driver coming. Indeed, when leaving the garage, it is indeed difficult to see someone arriving in the pit lane.
So it was his team that was summoned to the stewards, after the qualifying session, to explain the situation. The McLaren team representative admitted that the mechanic had misjudged the situation and that the error was the team’s responsibility, the FIA said in a statement.
This dangerous maneuver by McLaren led the stewards to impose a fine of €10,000 on the team. Having reviewed previous cases of this type of infringement, the stewards believe that this offense justifies a more severe penalty than previously applied, hence the imposition of the above penalty.
