Piastri Avoids Pitlane Start Despite Chassis Change for Baku Grand Prix
Baku,Azerbaijan – McLaren’s Oscar Piastri will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from ninth on the grid despite being forced to switch to a spare chassis following a qualifying crash,escaping a pitlane start thanks to a clause in Formula 1’s sporting regulations.
Piastri’s qualifying session ended prematurely in Q3 when he braked too late for Turn 3, impacting the barriers and causing significant damage to the front right corner of his MCL39. Inspection revealed the chassis was damaged beyond repair.
F1 rules typically prohibit major car changes after qualifying under parc ferme conditions, potentially resulting in a pitlane start. However, McLaren successfully invoked a regulation allowing a spare car to be used if a driver “suffered genuine accident damage or has suffered a significant failure or fault” with their original car.
To comply with the regulations, McLaren confirmed all components of the replacement chassis are identical in design, mass, inertia, and function to the original, and the suspension setup remains unchanged.
Team boss Andrea Stella explained that Piastri had experienced a problem in FP1 and was building confidence throughout the weekend. “It’s also a very unforgiving circuit, so if you are not 100% comfortable, you’d rather take it from the conservative side when it comes to finding your braking points and braking shape,” Stella said. He also noted Piastri’s qualifying pace was strong before the crash, with the first couple of corners being “quite a bit faster than pole position.”
Piastri is not the only driver making a chassis change for the race; Alpine’s Franco Colapinto will also use a spare car and a new gearbox after his Q1 incident. Charles leclerc, however, will not require a new chassis, as Ferrari was able to repair his car following his own qualifying crash.
