Piastri and Alpine penalties reshape Mexico City points
Post-race penalties changed the Mexico City top ten. Oscar Piastri lost his points for the Lindblad collision, both Alpines were penalised for yellow-flag breaches, and Ryo Hirakawa scored a point on his surprise Haas debut.
Piastri punished for the Lindblad contact
The Mexico City Grand Prix was decided twice: once on the road and again at the stewards' table. Oscar Piastri had finished seventh, but the FIA gave him a 10-second time penalty for his collision with Arvid Lindblad on lap 59, PlanetF1 reports. Piastri tried to pass the Racing Bulls driver on the outside of Turn 1, clipped his rear and sent him into the barriers at Turn 2. Lindblad was unhurt, and the crash caused the race's second safety car.
The stewards found that Piastri was never fully alongside, so he had no right to the corner, and that Lindblad had left him room. Piastri said he was in a genuine fight with a driver who had been behind him for more than ten laps. The penalty pushed him out of the points.
Alpine lose everything
Piastri's penalty briefly promoted Franco Colapinto to seventh and Pierre Gasly to ninth, worth eight points for Alpine. They did not keep them. Colapinto received a 10-second penalty for passing a single waved yellow flag without slowing enough, and Gasly a stop-and-go penalty, converted to a 30-second time penalty, for insufficient speed reduction under double waved yellows. Gasly also got two penalty points, according to The Race. Alpine had argued its case, but the stewards rejected its telemetry and photo evidence.
Who gained
Liam Lawson, who started from the pit lane after his qualifying disqualification, moved up to seventh and six points for Racing Bulls. Gabriel Bortoleto moved to eighth, Isack Hadjar to ninth and Ryo Hirakawa, the Haas reserve who stepped in for Esteban Ocon, took tenth and a point on his first Formula 1 start, as The Race and Crash.net report.
The numbers
Racing Bulls now lead Alpine by 35 points in the fight for fifth in the constructors' standings, The Race notes. In the season data, Lawson has scored points in 15 of the 19 races so far. The next chance to score is the São Paulo Grand Prix on 8 November.
