F1: Oscar Piastri Will Not Serve Baku Jump-Start Penalty in Singapore; Here’s Why

Oscar Piastri will compete in the Singapore Grand Prix without receiving a grid penalty, after the FIA confirmed that his unserved sanction from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would not carry over. The McLaren driver had been handed a five-second penalty in Baku for a jump start but retired on the opening lap after stalling and hitting the barriers. Since the penalty could not be applied during the race, stewards reviewed the case under recently updated rules for handling such situations.

According to the FIA’s revised guidance, a single five-second penalty that goes unserved because of retirement will no longer be converted into a grid drop at the following event. This rule only applies to minor infractions that do not provide any long-term advantage. In contrast, repeated violations or serious incidents can still lead to carryover penalties. This approach is designed to ensure fairness by preventing small errors from having unintended consequences at future races.

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Piastri’s incident was assessed as a relatively minor mistake. Camera footage from Baku showed him moving slightly from ninth on the grid before the lights went out, which contravened Article 48.1.a of the sporting regulations. The five-second penalty was the lightest sanction available under Article 54.3, but his retirement made it impossible to serve. The FIA therefore applied its updated guidance, recognising the penalty as null once the race ended prematurely.

The Azerbaijan race also featured a comparable situation with Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin driver was penalised for the same offence but completed the race, serving his five-second sanction during his pit stop. The different outcomes highlight how the new rules differentiate between drivers who are able to continue racing and those who cannot, aligning the punishment closely with the circumstances of the race itself.

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Piastri admitted fault for the error in Baku and acknowledged that the retirement had already cost him valuable championship points. Being cleared of a carryover sanction means that he will start in Singapore without additional setbacks. This ruling not only allows him to concentrate solely on maximising performance for McLaren but also demonstrates the FIA’s intent to balance penalty enforcement while keeping the impact restricted to the event where the violation occurs.