Retrospective Time Penalties: Haas Debutant Scores Points

Exciting days for Ryo Hirakawa!

On Friday, the Japanese driver was still planned as a reserve driver for Haas at the Mexican Grand Prix. 48 hours later, he himself scores points for the US-American team.

This was made possible by a very short-notice and surprising swap with Esteban Ocon, who was barred from the cockpit after an altercation, at least for this race.

Penalties for Piastri, Gasly, Colapinto

Originally, Hirakawa had crossed the finish line in 13th place. In his rather late Formula 1 debut at 32 years old, he consequently benefited from time penalties that were handed out to three of his competitors several hours after the race.

Oscar Piastri was handed ten seconds by the stewards, as he was deemed primarily responsible for the collision with Arvid Lindblad. Until that point, Lindblad was solidly positioned in the points in the Racing Bull.

Both Alpine drivers were also retrospectively penalized, each for infringements under yellow flag. Franco Colapinto was handed ten seconds, Pierre Gasly even 30 seconds. As a result, both drivers dropped out of the points.

Further beneficiaries of these penalties are Liam Lawson, who moves up from ninth to seventh place, Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi from eleventh to eighth, as well as Isack Hadjar from twelfth to ninth.