Oscar Piastri has revealed that McLaren will have "some questions" for the FIA following the stewarding during last weekend's United States Grand Prix.
The stewards came under scrutiny across the event at the Circuit of the Americas, particularly following Lando Norris' incident with Max Verstappen. Norris received a five-second time penalty after being judged as having gained an advantage off the circuit.
The Briton was on the outside of Verstappen as he and the Dutchman ran off the track at Turn 12, but rejoined ahead of the three-time world champion.
Piastri also received an identical penalty during the weekend in the F1 sprint after being judged as having forced Pierre Gasly off the circuit at the same corner.
Both Piastri's and Norris' penalties frustrated McLaren, particularly as the former remained on the circuit.
When asked by select media including RacingNews365 if the driver guidelines by the stewards makes sense, Piastri said: "I think if you look at my penalty from the sprint, it was basically a carbon copy of Max and Lando, but I stayed on the track and I got the penalty.
"So no, it's not very clear. It's tough, it's just very difficult. I feel like as drivers, we also all kind of have different interpretations of what we think is fair and what's not, especially when it comes to being on the outside of another driver.
"But the difference of 10 centimetres or 20 centimetres shouldn't be the difference of you having the right to space or not having the right space."
Piastri recognises that judging incidents is a challenge for the stewards, especially for those who have not raced in the championship. However, McLaren still has questions it wants to answer.
"Obviously, for stewards who have generally not driven an [F1] car very much, it's very tough to judge that in the moment especially," added Piastri.
"So, yeah, I think my incident in the sprint and Lando and Max's in the race looked very similar with the opposite penalties. So I'm sure we'll have some questions."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the US GP and look ahead to this weekend's race in Mexico City. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris' Turn 12 incident is a key talking point, as is the narrative change in both F1 championships.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!