Oscar Piastri believes that Charles Leclerc should have received at least a warning after their contact at the Belgian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver is concerned about the precedent set by the stewards’ decision.
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Oscar Piastri left the Belgian Grand Prix with a bitter taste. Fifth at the finish, the McLaren driver believes that his clash with Charles Leclerc deserved a reaction from the stewards, even if a penalty was not necessarily required.
The incident occurred at Les Combes, when the Australian attempted to overtake the Ferrari on the outside. According to Piastri, Leclerc left him an extremely narrow space, causing contact between the two cars.
“We were very lucky”
The impact damaged the right side of the floor as well as the area of the McLaren’s deflectors, resulting in a significant loss of aerodynamic downforce.
Despite an investigation opened by the stewards, Charles Leclerc ultimately received no sanction. The officials judged that Piastri had not positioned his car sufficiently ahead of the Ferrari to be entitled to more space.
A decision that the Australian struggles to accept.
“From where I was, I was driving on the white line and found myself squeezed. We were especially very lucky that there wasn’t a more serious accident, as we touched wheels at the start of braking.”
A warning would have been enough
Without demanding a penalty against Leclerc, Piastri believes that a black and white flag, signifying an official warning, would have been more appropriate.
“I’m not saying a penalty was necessarily needed, but at least a black and white flag, something to show that this maneuver is on the limit.”
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The McLaren driver is mainly concerned that this decision sends a bad message to the drivers.
“If it’s considered acceptable, it means you can leave your opponent the bare minimum of space without consequence. That’s not a very reassuring direction.”
Damage that compromised his race
According to McLaren, the contact cost between five and ten points of aerodynamic downforce to the MCL39, strongly affecting Piastri’s performance for much of the race.
“During the first stint, the damage had a huge impact. I lost a lot of downforce, which completely changed the car’s balance. I suffered a lot until we could adjust the front wing to compensate a bit.”
The second stint proved more encouraging, even though the McLaren remained difficult to drive, especially after running in the disturbed air of Lewis Hamilton.
“The second stint was better, but the car was still damaged. That was clearly a factor. We were very competitive at the start of the stints, a bit less towards the end.”
Despite this fifth place, Piastri believes that the real issue goes beyond his result alone: he questions how the stewards will now interpret this type of wheel-to-wheel duel in Formula 1.
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