Yesterday at 06:30
Oscar Piastri was left "confused" and unhappy after a contentious
penalty cost him victory in a chaotic British Grand Prix. Piastri
was handed a 10-second penalty for what the stewards deemed to be
"erratic braking" behind the safety car that was on track for a
second time, forcing Max Verstappen to take evasive action. In wet
conditions, Piastri rapidly decelerated from 218 kph to 52 kph. The
Australian served the penalty late in the race as the conditions at
Silverstone forced the drivers to switch from intermediate tyres to
slicks, allowing McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to take up the lead
of the race, and on to his first home win. Piastri finished
runner-up, leading to his advantage in the drivers' standings being
cut to eight points over Norris at the halfway stage of the season.
Piastri was left perplexed by the fact he was penalised in contrast
to George Russell, who went unpunished after he braked hard behind
the safety car, with Verstappen again the driver behind on that
occasion. Additionally, in controlling the first safety car a few
laps earlier in the race with Verstappen behind, Piastri performed
a similar manoeuvre to what followed, but that was not noted by the
stewards. Explaining what unfolded, a disconsolate Piastri said:
"I hit the brakes. At the same time I did that, the lights on the
safety car went out, which was also extremely late. "I didn't
accelerate because I can control the pace from there, and you saw
the result. I didn't do anything differently from my first restart.
I didn't go any slower, so a shame." Assessing the stewards'
decisions, Piastri said: "I don't think [Verstappen] he had to
evade me. I think he managed the first time. "Going back to Canada,
I think you had to evade more there than you did [at Silverstone].
So, yeah, I'm a bit confused, to say the least." Asked whether he
felt there was inconsistency compared to what happened in Canada,
Piastri added: "I don't know how different it was. "I can only
comment on what I felt I did, which I felt was well within the
rules, and I did it once already in that race [British GP], so I
don't really get it. I'll go and have a look back."
