Piastri frustration reignited after 'pretty poor' briefing response

Oscar Piastri has expressed his dissatisfaction with the F1 drivers' briefing at the British Grand Prix after receiving what he felt were "pretty poor" answers over his deleted lap in qualifying at the previous round in Austria.

At the Red Bull Ring, the Australian would have qualified third, but he was adjudged to have breached track limits at Turn 6 on his final run. He ultimately lined up in seventh.

McLaren tried to appeal the decision, but its evidence was found inadmissible and the right of review was denied.

After Max Verstappen and team-mate Lando Norris came together at Turn 3 during the final few laps, George Russell, who had started in third, came through to take his first victory since late 2022.

This further compounded Piastri's misery, who finished second, but potentially would have won his first grand prix.

"That weekend's frustration was re-ignited [in the drivers' briefing]," the 23-year-old told media including RacingNew365.

When asked if he had been given any answers to the track limits situation, he replied: "Yes, I did. They were pretty poor. Let's leave it at that", whilst additionally confirming there was no immediate next step between McLaren and the FIA to take a further look at the incident.

"It's between us and the FIA, but the methodology of deleting the lap was not correct. So, that was obviously quite frustrating. 

"We tried to appeal, tried to do everything we could to have it looked at, but there's no way in the rules to do it - that was what was frustrating, especially given the events of the race."

Piastri sympathises with the FIA

Piastri finished in fourth-place at the British Grand Prix, after a strategic error by McLaren saw him left out on track for an extra lap as the main rain shower of the race intensified, as opposed to being brought in alongside his team-mate and the race leader for a double-stack pit stop.

It was a result that will no doubt compound his frustrations from two grand prix weekends that could have provided even stronger results for himself and McLaren.

Track limits were also an issue for Norris in Austria, who was awarded a five-second time penalty during his ultimately doomed fight with Verstappen.

"It's very difficult for everyone involved," Piastri replied when asked by RacingNews365 if the frustrations from the drivers' briefing and a lack of satisfactory answers was as a result of division amongst the drivers and teams.

"Of course, all the teams are not going to agree on everything, all the drivers aren't going to agree on everything, and the FIA is not going to agree with everything we want either.

"I think the system they have at the moment, it's quite clear that if you leave the track at all, then it counts as a track limit, which, in some ways is consistent and quite easy to follow.

"But when you've clearly not gained an advantage, it feels unnecessarily harsh. But at the moment, it's very difficult for the FIA to monitor that, taking into account every case when you have... I very much sympathise with them that it's not an easy thing to do case-by-case.

"So I think that was where it made good progress, understanding where everyone was coming from. I think on all sides, we want to just make the show better."