Piastri asked to slow by McLaren to protect Norris amid penalty fear
Oscar Piastri says he was ordered to slow by McLaren in the closing laps of the US Grand Prix, in the fear that a five-second penalty would be imposed on Lando Norris and drop the Briton behind his teammate at the checkered flag.
Norris had gained the upper hand against arch-rival Max Verstappen just four laps from the end of the race at The Circuit of the Americas with a bold maneuver on the outside of Turn 12.
However, the move – completed by the McLaren driver beyond the track’s limits – immediately triggered an investigation from the stewards to determine whether Norris had gained an advantage or not.
McLaren’s crews, confident that Norris' pass was legit, did not ask him to give back the position, but the gap between Piastri and his teammate was closely monitored to make sure that Norris would come away with at least fourth place in the event of a penalty - which is the scenario that eventually materialized.
“They told me to slow down a bit on the last lap, which is fair to me,” said the Aussie who offered his view on the stewards’ call.
“I’ve seen the incident a bit and it’s pretty harsh, I would say, considering I had a very similar incident yesterday in Max’s position and I was the one that got a penalty.
“So I’m sure we’ll have some questions about that.”
Indeed, in Saturday’s Sprint event, Piastri found himself on the receiving end of the stewards’ wrath for running Alpine’s Pierre Gasly wide at COTA’s Turn 12.
Piastri initially reckoned that the move “probably deserved” a sanction, but after Verstappen was given a free pass by the stewards for his maneuver against Norris on Sunday, the two-time Grand Prix winner had second thoughts.
Asked whether drivers have enough clarity over how the racing rules are interpreted, Piastri said: “Given those incidents were so similar with opposite penalties, probably not.
“It’s very, very difficult, especially when you’ve got a car on the outside and both cars going off the track and stuff like that.
“So it’s not an easy thing to decide. The difference of 20 or 30 centimetres being alongside can make a massive difference.”
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