FIA Issues McLaren penalty After Oscar Piastri Exceeds Pit...r

FIA Issues McLaren penalty After Oscar Piastri Exceeds Pit…read more

The FIA has issued a penalty to McLaren following a minor rules breach by driver Oscar Piastri during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The incident took place in Free Practice 1 (FP1), where Piastri marginally exceeded the pit-lane speed limit, leading to a fine for the team.

The pit-lane speed limit at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is 80 km/h. Piastri was recorded traveling at 80.3 km/h—just 0.3 km/h over the limit. While such a minor overstep may seem negligible, FIA regulations are strict when it comes to pit-lane safety, and any violation, no matter how slight, results in a penalty. In this case, McLaren was handed a €100 (£85) fine.

Although the penalty might seem excessive given how minimal the infraction was, it highlights the FIA’s consistent application of rules. Even slight deviations from the speed limit are not tolerated. The size of the fine, however, does reflect the small degree of the offense. In comparison, other teams have received steeper fines for more substantial speed breaches.

For instance, during the 2021 season, Red Bull Racing was fined €1000 (£850) after Sergio Perez exceeded the pit-lane limit by a staggering 40 km/h. More recently, in 2025, Williams was also fined €1000 when Carlos Sainz went 13.7 km/h over the speed limit at the Japanese Grand Prix. These examples underscore how penalties escalate depending on the severity of the violation.

Interestingly, McLaren wasn’t the only team fined during the Canadian GP weekend for a marginal infraction. Williams also received a €100 penalty after Alex Albon was caught driving at 80.1 km/h in the pit-lane—just 0.1 km/h above the threshold. Again, the fine may seem strict, but the FIA’s goal is to maintain consistency and enforce safety protocols without exceptions.

Such decisions reflect the incredibly fine margins that define modern Formula 1. Drivers and teams regularly operate on the edge, whether it’s with pit-lane speeds, car dimensions, or track limits. The importance of even the smallest measurements was emphasized earlier this year at the Chinese Grand Prix, where both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified after post-race inspections.

Hamilton’s Ferrari was found to have excessive wear on the underfloor plank—just half a millimeter beyond the allowed limit. Leclerc’s car, meanwhile, was underweight by only one kilogram, coming in at 799kg instead of the minimum 800kg. Despite the marginal nature of the infractions, both drivers faced disqualification, showing how strictly the rules are applied across all areas of the sport.

Fortunately for Piastri, this pit-lane infraction resulted in a financial penalty for McLaren rather than a sporting consequence for him personally. He was not held directly responsible for paying the fine and avoided any impact on his race result. Nonetheless, the incident serves as a reminder that in F1, even the smallest errors can come with a cost.