McLaren has failed to have Oscar Piastri's final lap time reinstated.

The Woking outfit lodged a protest against the deletion of the 1.04.786 set by Piastri in the final moments of Q3, which put him third on the grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix, and which was subsequently deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 6.

The stewards convened a hearing with McLaren to determine the admissibility, or otherwise, of the protest, and which was attended by Andrea Stella, and Team Manager, Randeep Singh.

The protest was lodged in writing, accompanied by a deposit of 2,000 euros, and addressed to the Clerk of the Course not to the Chairperson of the Stewards.

According to the stewards the appeal did not specify any relevant regulations, did not specify against whom the protest was lodged but did identify the concerns of the protesting party.

The stewards deemed the protest was not open to protest, nor did it meet several of the required criteria for the admissibility of a protest, consequently they rejected the protest as inadmissible and the deposit forfeited..

Speaking at the end of the session, which saw Piastri drop to seventh on the grid after his time was deleted, the Australian was clearly angry.

"For me, it is embarrassing," he said. "We do all this work on track limits, put gravel in places and I didn't even go off the track, I stayed on the track.

I don't know why they've spent hundreds of thousands or millions trying to change the last two corners when there are other corners you can go off at," he added, "but anyway, everyone else stayed on the track, and I didn't.

"It was the best I took Turn 6," he said of the lap, "I was right on the limit of the track, and I think that is what everyone wants to see.

"We've spent so much effort trying to get rid of these problems, and there is no reason this corner should be an issue for track limits, especially when you stay on the track like I did.

"Obviously being the only one it happened to, I'm probably more vocal about it right now, but it is embarrassing that you see us pushing to the limit of what we can do, and if I am one centimetre wider, I am in the gravel and completely ruin my lap anyway."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 03/07/2024 1:19

"@Wokingchap...Herbert has now gone public with his outright condemnation of Verstappen's race on Sunday. He should have no access to the stewards panel as his past allegiances and overly pro Brit outlooks should automatically preclude him from selection. As it turns out the rejection of the McLaren protest was based not on the actual incident but the process of lodgment. Just how they can justify that is beyond reason. What that decision did was an attempt to seriously reduce any competetive pressures on Norris by Piastri. Was Herbert on that panel as well? The sprint results showed just how fast Piastri actually was and that would've rocked the Norris boat considerably come Sunday. Thgere's no doubt that Norris is fast, his results bear this out but he is, IMO, flakey and does not cope with pressures as well as some others. This augurs well for the rest of the season.On track developments can and, hopefully,will escalate further in the process...."

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2. Posted by Wokingchap, 30/06/2024 10:31

"Totally agree with comments here and not only should the stewards be called out to justify their decisions AND provide their visual evidence for all to see, but be interviewed too.
As for not returning the £2000, if they refuse the protest it should be returned, even if it was only £2."

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3. Posted by kenji, 30/06/2024 0:23

"In incidents like this the stewards should be called out to justify their decisions when challenged by providing visual evidence. I have watched the replays and cannot see where Piastri's wheels were both over the white line limit at the same time. :Looking at the 'Skypad' the infringerment is not possible to verify. IMO any benefit of doubt should always favour the driver. If I was a conspiracy theorist, and I'm not, I'd say Piastri'e relegation to seventh was a convenient way of reducing the threat posed to Norris in the forthcoming race, based purely on the results of the Sprint where Piastri convincingly beat Norris.... on merit. The amazement displayed by the Sky team at Piastri's drive, left no doubt just where their sympathies lie. The wrong driver came second. Thankfully Lazenby was absent ......"

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4. Posted by Hondaunearthed, 29/06/2024 21:23

"100 percent agree, it is embarrassing.
Also, why did the FIA take the 2000 pounds, but then say it is not able to be over turned? I may have read it wrong, but that again is a rediculous.
Hopefully Oscar gets some type of help throughout the race."

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