Martin Brundle agrees with Oscar Piastri over ‘unfair’ incident at the Singapore Grand Prix

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Martin Brundle has called for “common sense” in F1 after McLaren ace Oscar Piastri was a victim of an “unfair” incident in qualifying for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix.

The Singapore GP could prove to be a big weekend for McLaren and their drivers in the 2025 F1 season, with the Woking squad able to clinch the constructors’ title at Marina Bay. Piastri and Lando Norris are also vying to respond to Max Verstappen’s wins at Monza and in Baku.

Piastri held a 104-point lead over Verstappen in third place in the F1 drivers’ standings prior to the Italian Grand Prix. Yet the Red Bull racer’s recent results have slashed his deficit to 69 points before the Singapore GP, also due to Piastri crashing out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Martin Brundle feels sorry for Oscar Piastri after yellow flags compromised his Singapore Grand Prix qualifying

Piastri penned his first retirement of the year in Baku last time out during a torrid weekend for the championship leader. As well as crashing out of the race on the opening lap, Piastri crashed during qualifying in Baku. So, he would have hoped for a clean time at Marina Bay.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix

But Piastri’s qualifying session at the Singapore GP was compromised early on, much to the 24-year-old’s frustration this Saturday. The Australian was shown yellow flags as he started his first flying lap during Q1 after a rival drove into the run-off area so as not to impede him.

The yellow flags meant Piastri had to give up his first run after only the first two corners. He still progressed to Q2, as the Melbourne native posted a 1:30.313 during his second run. But the yellow flag incident made the start of Piastri’s qualifying harder than it might have been.

Piastri vented over McLaren’s team radio after aborting his first Q1 run: “Ah, man, come on! You can’t give a yellow flag for someone getting out of the way.”

And Brundle agreed with Piastri’s verdict about the yellow flag incident during qualifying for the Singapore GP. The F1 cult hero stated that it was “unfair” for the McLaren driver to have to stop his first Q1 run for a driver getting out of the way, but he did not blame the marshals.

Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (04/10, 14:07): “He’s right. That car was just getting out of his way. Now, it’s wrecked his lap. It hasn’t wrecked his tyres. But, basically, because that car ran deep on the outside to get out of the way, he’s been given a yellow flag.

“He’s right, that’s unfair. Unfortunately, the marshals are just doing their job specifically and rightly. But there has to be a level of sort of common sense that goes into that.”

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri qualified P3 for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix

Piastri was right to feel aggrieved after having to abort his first Q1 run during qualifying for the Singapore GP on Saturday for another driver simply moving out of the way so as not to impede the McLaren man. There is also plenty of run-off area at the Turn 1-2-3 sequence.

Had the yellow flags been for a driver making a mistake and running deep or even crashing at Turn 1, 2 or 3, then Piastri would have had no right to feel annoyed. But it was clear that the yellow flags were not required, and it cost Piastri the best from one of his sets of tyres.

It would not be the be-all and end-all of his qualifying, though. Piastri put his early anger to bed and qualified P3 for the Singapore GP with a 1:29.524. The Australian’s time was 0.062s faster than Norris’ for P5, but Verstappen secured P2 with a 0.182s deficit to George Russell.