Oscar Piastri drops from P7 to P15 after post-race penalty at Mexico City Grand Prix

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Oscar Piastri’s P7 finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix has been overturned by a post-race penalty, with the stewards ruling that the McLaren driver was at fault in a collision with Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad. As a result of the 10-second time penalty, Piastri dropped to P15 in the final classification and therefore scored no points from the race.

The penalty comes after a recovery from qualifying that saw Piastri exit unexpectedly in Q2 and start the Grand Prix from P12 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. During the early stages, he moved into the top 10 and then progressed further to seventh through the pit stops, positioning him to convert his strong race pace into points.

A Safety Car restart, however, reshuffled the running order. Lindblad made his way past during the restart sequence, demoting Piastri to P8. Piastri then attempted to regain the position immediately, coming around the outside at Turn 1 and continuing until his front tyre made contact with Lindblad’s left rear.

The stewards concluded the contact led to Lindblad skidding into the barriers. In their written decision, they said they reviewed input from both drivers, team representatives, and positioning/marshalling data, along with video and in-car footage. They also referenced the overtake attempt approaching Turn 1, stating that Piastri was not fully alongside Lindblad when attempting to claim the corner.

According to the decision document, Lindblad defended his position through Turn 1 by releasing the brakes, which “does not force Car 81 off the track,” while leaving racing room on the outside that Piastri was not able to use to establish the right to the corner. The stewards further determined the collision could have been avoided if Piastri had moved further to the left after Turn 1, even if it required leaving the track prior to Turn 2.

With Piastri now leaving Mexico City with zero points, it marks his fourth non-scoring round of the season, following races in Australia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. The classification adjustment also promotes Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) into the points as a result of Piastri’s demotion.

Piastri’s penalty underlines how, in close battles, the margin for post-restart overtakes and late positioning decisions can be decisive—particularly when contact results from an overtake attempt that the stewards judge as not sufficiently established when the drivers reach the critical turn-in phase.