F1 News: FIA Delivers Verdict On McLaren’s Austrian Qualifying Protest

The FIA, the governing body of Formula One, has officially responded to a protest lodged by the McLaren team concerning the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session. At the heart of the dispute was a critical lap time deletion of McLaren’s Formula 1 driver, Oscar Piastri.

During Q3, the Australian driver clocked in a promising lap time of 1:04.786, which would have placed him in a favorable third position for the race. However, this was not to be as his time was deleted on the grounds of allegedly exceeding track limits at Turn 6. The decision by the officials to nullify his lap was grounded on what they perceived as a clear infringement where Piastri was accused of navigating beyond the designated track boundaries with all four wheels.

In response, McLaren launched a formal protest, contending that the decision was unfounded as Piastri had maintained his position within the track limits. The frustration within the team was palpable, more so from Piastri himself who spoke out against the inconsistency of track limit enforcement. He explained during an interview with Sky Sports F1 during the broadcast:

“For me, it’s embarrassing.

“We did all of this work for track limits, put gravel in places, and I didn’t even go off the track. I stayed on the track. It was probably my best Turn Six and it gets deleted.

“I don’t know why they’ve spent hundreds of thousands trying to change the last two corners when you still have corners you can go off.

“But, anyway, everyone else kept it in the track, I didn’t. That’s how it goes.”

The stewards meticulously reviewed McLaren’s protest, which involved detailed submissions from both McLaren’s Team Principal Andrea Stella and Team Manager Randeep Singh. Ultimately, the review led to the protest being declared inadmissible due to several procedural deficiencies. The official statement from the Stewards reads:

“1. On June 29, 2024 following the publication of the Provisional Classification for the Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren Formula 1 Team lodged a protest against the deletion of a lap time (1.04.786) set by the driver of Car 81 (Oscar Piastri) in Q3.

“2. The Stewards first convened a hearing with McLaren to determine the admissibility, or otherwise, of the Protest.

“3. Present at that Hearing were the Team Principal, Andrea Stella, and Team Manager, Randeep Singh.

“4. The protest was lodged in writing (Article 13.4.1 ISC).

“5. It was accompanied by a deposit of EUR 2,000 (Article 13.4.2 ISC).

“6. It was addressed to the Clerk of the Course and not to the Chairperson of the Stewards (Article 13.5.1 ISC).

“7. It did not specify any relevant regulations (Article 13.4.1 ISC).

“8. It did not specify against whom the protest was lodged (Article 13.4.1 ISC).

“9. It did identify the concerns of the protesting party (Article 13.4.1 ISC).

“10. The subject matter of the protest was a decision (deletion of a relevant lap time in accordance with Article 12.4.1 e) of the FIA International Sporting Code) taken by the Stewards. A decision of the Stewards is not open to protest (Article 12.3.3 ISC).

“11. Additionally, the protest does not meet several of the required criteria for the admissibility of a protest (ref. points 6 to 8 above).

“12. The Stewards therefore reject the protest as it is inadmissible.

“13. The protest deposit is forfeited.”