Piastri faces grid penalty after stewards summons for impeding Lawson in Monza qualifying

Oscar Piastri qualified third for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Saturday but faces losing that position after he and McLaren were summoned to the FIA stewards over an alleged impeding incident involving Liam Lawson in Q2.

The incident took place in the closing moments of Q2 as Lawson — driving for Red Bull in his second appearance of the season as a stand-in for the injured Isack Hadjar — was building for his final flying lap. Piastri, on an out-lap approaching the first chicane, slowed to allow Max Verstappen through after Red Bull had sent its drivers out earlier. The McLaren driver then moved in front of Lawson through the chicane, disrupting the New Zealander on the exit leading onto Curva Grande.

Lawson failed to advance from Q2, finishing the session in 14th place. His actual starting position is unaffected, however, as Red Bull had already introduced new power unit components to the RB22 he is racing this weekend, consigning him to a back-of-grid start regardless.

Piastri progressed to Q3 and secured third place behind polesitter Pierre Gasly and Mercedes driver George Russell. That result is now in jeopardy following the stewards’ summons, scheduled for 17:40 local time, with both Piastri and Lawson — along with a Red Bull team representative — called to appear.

The FIA summons cites a potential breach of Article B4.1.1 of the Formula 1 Regulations, with the incident formally described as car 81 “allegedly impeding car 30 at turn 2 at 16:38”. A grid penalty for Piastri would alter the second row of the grid ahead of Sunday’s race.