Piastri handed grid penalty after impeding incident in Monza

Piastri on-track at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix | Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

After an impeding incident between McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Liam Lawson which took place during qualifying for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, the Australian driver has been given a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's Grand Prix. As a result of the penalty, Piastri will start in sixth.

In the final moments of Q2, Lawson and Piastri found themselves close on-track which led to the incident in question. Lawson, who was preparing for his final flying lap, had been released by the Red Bull garage early while Piastri was on an out-lap. Although the McLaren driver had made way for Lawson's teammate Max Verstappen, he found himself in front of the other Red Bull.

After the session, Piastri and Lawson were summoned to the stewards along with team representatives to discuss Piastri "allegedly impeding car 30 at Turn 2". With the discussions complete, the stewards came to the decision that Piastri had indeed impeded Lawson which led to the latter's Q2 elimination.

In the discussion with the stewards, Piastri "stated that he was not alerted to the fact that VER [Verstappen] and LAW [Lawson] were on push laps" which led to the incident. Although the stewards had noted that Piastri had "no other options available", they also noted that it was clear the Australian driver had "inadvertently, and also unnecessarily, impeded Car 30". As a result, the stewards declared that Piastri would be given the "standard penalty of a drop of 3 grid positions".

Lawson, who is stepping in for the injured Isack Hadjar for the second weekend running, was set to start in 14th. However, despite the Q2 elimination, Lawson is set to start Sunday's race from the back of the grid where he will be joined by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Williams' Alex Albon.