The Formula 1 world was thrown into chaos on September 20, 2025, when the FIA announced a second major punishment for McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri, escalating a controversial incident from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend that has already seen the young Australian reprimanded for a yellow flag violation during Free Practice 2. Just 24 hours after the stewards issued Piastri’s first reprimand of the season for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags—triggered by Pierre Gasly’s off-track excursion at Turn 1—the governing body dropped another bombshell: a 10-place grid penalty for the Grand Prix proper, stemming from a separate power unit component change during FP1 that exceeded allocation limits. This double whammy, confirmed in an official FIA statement, has ignited outrage among fans, McLaren officials, and Piastri’s rivals, threatening to derail the 24-year-old’s title charge with just seven races remaining and amplifying tensions in a season defined by stewards’ scrutiny.

The initial reprimand, handed down on September 19 after a post-FP2 stewards’ hearing, stemmed from Piastri’s alleged breach of Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code. During the 34th minute of the session, yellow flags were deployed at Marshal Post 1.2 following Gasly’s Alpine veering into the run-off area. Piastri, on a flying lap, was deemed to have not reduced speed adequately until Post 1.3, despite green light instructions requiring immediate action even without direct flag sighting. The stewards, comprising Felipe Massa, George Andreev, and local official Nurlana Mammadova, noted “mitigating circumstances” such as Piastri’s limited visibility and the session’s chaos—compounded by his earlier FP1 power unit woes—but still classified it as a technical infringement. “It was a scrappy session,” McLaren’s Lando Norris admitted post-FP2, where both drivers clipped the wall, with Norris damaging his suspension. Piastri, finishing 12th in the session behind Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari-topping 1-2 with Charles Leclerc, escaped without further penalty but now carries one reprimand on his record—three more would trigger a drive-through, and five a 10-place grid drop.

The second punishment, however, packs a far heavier punch. During FP1, Piastri’s MCL39 suffered a suspected MGU-K failure just minutes into the session, forcing him to limp back to the garage for 25 minutes while engineers swapped components. FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed post-session that the change constituted Piastri’s sixth MGU-K of the season, breaching the 2025 power unit allocation limits under Article 34 of the Sporting Regulations. This incurs an automatic 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, Piastri’s second such infraction after a similar gearbox issue at Silverstone earlier this year. “The team acted swiftly to minimize downtime, but the damage was done,” a McLaren spokesperson told Sky Sports F1, emphasizing that the failure was “unforeseen and unrelated to prior wear.” Piastri, who leads Norris by 31 points after Monza’s team orders controversy, now faces a compromised Qualifying, potentially starting outside the top 10 on a wall-lined street circuit notorious for its passing challenges.

McLaren’s weekend has been a nightmare from the outset. FP1 saw Norris lead Piastri and Leclerc in a truncated session interrupted by kerb repairs and red flags, but Piastri’s early retirement limited his long-run data on Baku’s abrasive surface. FP2 offered little respite, with both McLarens struggling for balance amid tire degradation woes that left the papaya cars three-tenths off Ferrari’s pace. Team principal Andrea Stella, fuming over the double hit, called it “a body blow to our championship momentum,” while hinting at an appeal for the power unit penalty—though precedents like Hamilton’s 60-place grid drop at Spa suggest slim odds. Fans on X erupted under #JusticeForOscar, with @F1Pulse tweeting, “FIA piling on Piastri while Verstappen skates free? Smells like bias!” echoing broader gripes about inconsistent stewarding amid Ben Sulayem’s controversial tenure.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Piastri, who entered Baku riding high on fond memories of his 2024 victory and a pointed pre-race jab at Norris amid intra-team tensions. With 200 points still available in the remaining Grands Prix and 24 from sprints in Austin, Brazil, and Qatar, a subpar Baku—where overtaking relies on DRS zones and bold moves—could erode his buffer, handing Norris a lifeline. Verstappen, lurking 42 points back after Red Bull’s resurgence, and Leclerc, on four straight Baku poles, circle like sharks. As the FIA’s verdict stands, McLaren scrambles for setup tweaks, but the psychological toll looms large. In F1’s unforgiving arena, where margins are razor-thin, Piastri’s double punishment isn’t just a setback—it’s a stark reminder that even leaders aren’t immune to the stewards’ gavel.