Oscar Piastri hits out at ’embarrassing’ track limits call after Austrian GP lap deletion

Oscar Piastri McLaren at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix PlanetF1

Oscar Piastri dropped from third to seventh in the final moments of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying after a slight run in Turn 6 resulted in a track limits violation. The McLaren driver’s frustration was clear, as he slammed the deletion as “embarrassing.”

Speaking to Sky F1, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri wondered aloud how F1 and organizers for the Austrian Grand Prix can spend ample amounts of money to add gravel traps and implement AI solutions only laps to still fall victim to violations.

Oscar Piastri: ‘For me, it’s embarrassing’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Piastri slammed his track limit deletion as “embarrassing” while speaking to Sky F1.

“We do all this work for track limits, put gravel in in places, and I didn’t even go off the track,” he said. “I stayed on the track and probably my best Turn 6 and it gets deleted.

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

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

Piastri further expressed his frustration that Turn 6 has now become an issue regarding track limits; last year, the issues largely centered on Turns 9 and 10.

“There is no reason this corner should be an issue for track limits. Especially when you stay on the track like I did, or not in the gravel.

“For me, obviously being the only one that’s had that happen to me, I’m probably more vocal about it right now.

“But I think it’s embarrassing that you see us pushing right to the limit of what we can do, and one centimetre more, I’m in the gravel and completely ruin my lap anyway.”

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Piastri’s primary frustration seems to center on the fact that he feels the gravel trap, not the white line on the track, should represent the extent of track limits.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com, Piastri added that he feels track limits policing goes against the ethos of Formula 1.

“I think for me, that’s what racing in F1 should be all about: pushing the limits and taking the risks,” he said.

“Just a shame the white line was still a bit wider than my car.”

In 2023, the Austrian Grand Prix was marred by over 1,200 track limits violations, almost all of which took place at Turns 9 and 10. This year, the Red Bull Ring has added gravel traps to those corners to discourage any violations.

Further, the track has added a thin blue line at those two corners, which now more clearly represents the track limits border. This will enable an artificial intelligence system to better monitor these corners and determine whether or not a track-limits violation has taken place and remove the pressure from race stewards.

However, as Piastri’s deletion shows, Turn 6 has now emerged as a location where drivers may exceed track limits during the race.