Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad collide in Mexico. Image: Formula 1
The McLaren driver was penalised following his late collision with Arvid Lindblad on Lap 59, which sent the Racing Bulls driver into the barriers and brought out a Safety Car.
Piastri continued despite significant damage to his car, but the penalty imposed after the race cost him six championship points.
The stewards heard from both drivers and their teams before reviewing video footage and car positioning data, determining that Piastri was responsible for the collision.
They found that the Australian had attempted to overtake Lindblad around the outside of Turn 1 but had not moved sufficiently alongside to claim the corner.
“Car 81 was never fully alongside Car 41 so was not able to claim the right to the corner,” the stewards said in their decision.
Officials also determined that Lindblad had provided enough racing room and that Piastri could have avoided the collision by moving further left, even if that required him to leave the circuit before Turn 2.
The incident was deemed a breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 before the penalty was announced, Piastri had offered a different account of the collision, suggesting Lindblad’s late defensive move had left him with nowhere to go.
Lindblad and Piastri collide in dramatic fashion! 😮💥
This incident brought out the Safety Car in Mexico ⚠️
#F1 #MexicoGP https://t.co/iVhCoGTgYC
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 1, 2026
“I went to go to the inside in Turn 1, and he shut the door extremely late,” Piastri said.
“So I kind of ended up on the outside as a result of that. And then I was pretty close to alongside, and then it pushed me pretty wide.
“And at that point I knew I was never going to overtake into Turn 2. But he pushed me so far wide that our wheels were interlocked, and we crashed before we even turned for the corner.”
Piastri had initially considered the contact a racing incident, although he acknowledged the damage sustained had made completing the race difficult.
“It was lucky that we could continue with the damage we had because it was pretty big,” he said.
2016 world champion Nico Rosberg supported the stewards’ decision, arguing that Piastri should have backed out of the attempted overtake.
“It’s not 100 percent clear, but I think it’s fair for him to get a penalty because he was never really on the outside there,” Rosberg said on Sky Sports.
“And he needs to back out because it’s Lindblad’s space to use the entire width of the track there.”
The penalty compounded a difficult weekend for Piastri, who had started 12th after a disappointing qualifying session before recovering into the points.
His McLaren teammate Lando Norris, meanwhile, finished fifth after spending the closing stages unable to find a way past Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Norris believed McLaren had the pace to achieve a stronger result but conceded he had few opportunities to overtake.
“Of course I was hoping he would make a little bit of a mistake. That was really my only opportunity,” Norris said.
“So I think there was good potential and the car had potential for a good race.”
Piastri’s penalty promotes Franco Colapinto to seventh, Liam Lawson to eighth, Pierre Gasly to ninth and Gabriel Bortoleto into the points in 10th.
The race was won by Max Verstappen, while Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden world championship with third place.
Antonelli crowned youngest F1 champion as Verstappen wins Mexico City GP