Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto avoid F1 Azerbaijan GP pitlane starts

Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto have both undergone chassis changes after their qualifying crashes at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but neither driver will need to start the race from the pitlane.

Both McLaren and Alpine managed to complete the rebuild of their respective cars within the time allowed in the parc ferme rules, and apply the same set-up parameters, meaning neither driver will need to serve a pitlane start, as laid out by the F1 sporting regulations.

Therefore Piastri keeps his ninth-place grid slot, while Colapinto will start the race from 16th.

Franco Colapinto would rather “have a little crash” than slow down 

Elsewhere, Ferrari was able to rebuild Charles Leclerc's car without needing to change his chassis after his crash in qualifying so he will line up 10th on the grid

Azerbaijan GP qualifying set a record for most red flags in an F1 session, with a total of six shown for separate crashes across the three segments.

Six drivers endured hits with Baku’s walls, starting with Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and then Colapinto in Q1, with Oliver Bearman finding the barriers in Q2, and then Leclerc and Piastri suffering the same fate in Q3.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Piastri and Colapinto’s cars suffered the most impactful hits and in both cases, after checks by the technicians, damage to the chassis was discovered, forcing McLaren and Alpine to reassemble a new car around a spare chassis.

Leclerc's head-on impact, though violent, was absorbed by the front end with no other repercussions other numerous spare parts needed to restore the SF-25's front end.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella put Piastri’s crash down to him losing running time in practice after he was stuck in the garage with an issue during FP1.

“It was a little bit of a slow start to the weekend for Oscar. Part of which is the responsibility of the team,” Stell said. “Because even if the red flag mitigated the time lost, first of all, we had a problem on the car in free practice one with Oscar. Then he was building up in P2.

“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, braking shape. And to some extent, Oscar experienced that in qualifying.

“When you overdo a little bit, then it can be quite penalising.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

“I think Oscar's performance in qualifying was very strong. Actually, the first couple of corners before his crash, they were quite a bit faster than pole position. He was on a good pace.

“But he must have overjudged the grip available at the braking point in corner three. And like I said before, if you lock, then easily you may end up in the wall.”

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