A fuming Oscar Piastri has broken his silence after he was slapped with a 10-second penalty during the British Grand Prix.
His team-mate Lando Norris would go on to clinch his first British Grand Prix victory, as Piastri slumped to second place.
FIA officials stated that Piastri had ‘erratically braked on the straight before turn 15 when the Safety Car lights were extinguished’.
Stewards reviewed the system stating that he had braked hard, with approximately 59.2 psi of brake pressure, reducing his speed from 218kph to 52kph.
They explained that Max Verstappen was forced to ‘take evasive action to avoid a collision’, overtaking the Aussie star, before the Dutch driver ceded the position back to Piastri.
But the McLaren driver, who leads the Formula One World Championship, was penalised under Article 55.15 of the FIA Sporting Regulations, which requires drivers not to brake erratically or perform another manoeuvre that could endanger other drivers when the lights on the safety car are turned off.
Oscar Piastri (pictured) fumed following the British Grand Prix, as he was handed a 10-second penalty by race officials, which ultimately cost him victory
Lando Norris (second from right) claimed victory at his home race, while Nico Hulkenberg (right) claimed his first-ever podium finish as Piastri (second from left) came second
Piastri soon had a smile back on his face after the race as he wiped champagne from his eyes
McLaren have a right to appeal the decision.
A dejected Piastri appeared livid when questioned on the decision, refusing to delve into the moment which cost him the victory.
‘I’m not going to say much I’ll get myself in trouble,’ he fumed to Sky Sports.
‘Well done to Nico [Hulkenberg]. I think that’s the highlight of the day. I’ll live with it.
‘Apparently, you can’t break behind the safety car anymore,’ he added when pressed on the incident.
‘I did it for five laps before that… but I’m not going to say too much because I’ll get myself in trouble.
‘But thanks to the crowd for a great event. Thanks for sticking through the weather.
‘I still like Silverstone even if I don’t like it today. Thanks for coming out everyone.’
McLaren team principal Zak Brown appeared to state that the decision was a harsh one, adding that from his point of view, there were several factors that made the moment look worse than it actually was on television.
Piastri (left) was also seen congratulating his team-mate Norris (right) after the race
Norris was judged to have braked too harshly after the safety car was called out, but had forced Max Verstappen to evade him
‘I mean the safety car seemed like it was called in a bit late. The leader controls. I think Max excellerated, Oscar braked, which made it look worse than it was. The telemetry didn’t look like it looked on TV,’ Brown explained.
George Russell interestingly kept his race win at the Canadian Grand Prix after Red Bull had lodged two complaints that the Brit had been driving erratically behind the safety car, and had braked too quickly.
Brown was questioned on how Russell had braked with 30psi of pressure in that situation but added: ‘I think any time you get into these penalties there’s an element of subjectivity. When they’re pounding on the brakes they’re 130 and 140psi.
‘Trying to get temperature in the tyres, it’s wet and there’s a late call… it’s a close one.’
‘He’s being very genuine there, I’d be that way too if I was in that seat. He’ll move on but he’s got a lot of racing to go,’ Brown said, adding he’ll wrap his arm around Piastri after the decision.
Brown also asked Jenson Button for his take on the matter and the former driver said: ‘The biggest issue was that when the safety car put it’s lights out, Oscar had just started accelerating. 60mph to 130mph in the blink of an eye. And in that point he’s like: “I need to slow down, there’s a safety car in front of me”.’
Just eight points now separate Brown’s drivers, Piastri and Lando Norris, with Formula One set to return on June 27 in Austria.
