Oscar Piastri is known as one of Formula One’s calmest and most measured drivers, but the Australian finally let his frustration boil over after a controversial penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The McLaren star launched an angry radio outburst after being handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, insisting officials had made a mistake during one of the most chaotic races of the season.
Piastri started seventh on the grid and fought his way to fourth by the chequered flag on the streets of Monte Carlo, but the Melbourne driver was adamant he had done nothing wrong when officials accused him of exceeding the 60km/h pit-lane speed limit.
‘The pitlane speed is f***ed, because I was doing the right speed,’ Piastri snapped over team radio when informed of the penalty.
According to FIA documents, the infringement was almost microscopic, with Car 81 found to have exceeded the speed limit by just 0.1km/h.
The Australian was still seething after climbing from the cockpit.
Oscar Piastri was furious after being hit with a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty in Monaco
The Australian insisted he did nothing wrong, claiming there was an issue with the pit-lane speed monitoring
‘I think there was a problem with the track or something because 100 per cent I wasn’t speeding,’ Piastri said.
‘The team said we weren’t speeding as well. I’m not sure what happened there.’
Piastri was not alone in his frustration. Several other drivers, including George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, were also hit with identical five-second penalties during the race.
The 25-year-old ultimately benefited from Gasly’s sanction, which promoted him from fifth to fourth, but that did little to ease his concerns about what had unfolded.
The race itself was filled with drama.
A section of the Monaco circuit began breaking apart late in the event, forcing officials to stop proceedings on lap 68. Drivers complained about deteriorating conditions, with Piastri revealing the damaged section had become dangerously slippery.
‘At first, it kind of looked like marbles, but then you could see some of the holes in the ground,’ he said.
‘Clearly by the end, it was not in a great state, so obviously that kind of stuff shouldn’t be happening.’
Piastri vented his frustration over team radio after officials penalised him for exceeding the limit
Piastri still described the Monaco result as positive after gaining three positions during the race
Despite the penalty and track concerns, Piastri still managed to salvage a valuable points haul on a difficult weekend for McLaren.
‘When you make up three spots in Monaco, that’s always a good day,’ he said.
‘Whilst I didn’t do the overtaking myself, we did a good job of taking advantage of things playing out ahead of us and being smart with the strategy.
‘Getting those 12 points was important.’
Yet the Australian’s biggest concern was not the penalty, but the pace of his car.
Piastri finished more than 24 seconds behind race winner Kimi Antonelli and admitted McLaren simply did not have the speed to challenge the front-runners.
‘However, our pace wasn’t very strong today and we need to work out why we have struggled so much this weekend,’ he said.
‘Looking ahead to Barcelona and further on into the season, we have a lot of work to do to close the gap to the front runners.’
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella echoed those concerns despite praising Piastri’s drive.
‘Oscar drove an exceptionally precise and controlled race,’ Stella said.
‘He kept it clean, made almost no mistakes, and executed our plan perfectly.’
But Stella admitted the team’s underlying performance was nowhere near where it needed to be.
‘Despite the positive operational and strategic decisions, we have to be honest with ourselves regarding our underlying pace,’ he said.
‘Today, Ferrari and Mercedes were operating in a completely different dimension.
‘It is clear that McLaren has a significant amount of work to do back at the factory to make the car fundamentally faster and more reliable.’
