06/07/2025 18:40
The F1 stewards have explained why they opted to issue Oscar
Piastri a severe 10-second time penalty at the British Grand Prix.
During a safety car restart at the Silverstone Circuit on Sunday,
Piastri found himself at the head of the pack, having overtaken
pole-sitter Max Verstappen earlier in the race. As they prepared to
go racing again, Piastri applied his brakes as they drove along the
back straight, with Verstappen seemingly being caught out by the
manoeuvre. It resulted in a 10-second time penalty for the
Australian, which cost him the lead to team-mate Lando Norris when
they made their final pit stops. A distraught Piastri did not offer
much insight into the incident in his post-race interview, stating
he would "get in trouble" if he voiced his true feelings. While
Piastri obviously expressed he didn't feel the penalty was fair,
the stewards explained why it concluded the punishment was
warranted. "When the clerk of the course had declared that the
safety car was coming in that lap and the lights were extinguished,
Car 81 suddenly braked hard (59.2 psi of brake pressure) and
reduced speed in the middle of the straight between T14 and T15,
from 218 kph to 52 kph, resulting in Car 1 having to take evasive
action to avoid a collision," read a statement from the stewards.
"This momentarily resulted in Car 1 unavoidably overtaking Car 81,
a position which he gave back immediately. "Article 55.15 of the
FIA Sporting Regulations required Car 81 to proceed at a pace which
involved no erratic braking nor any other manoeuvre which is likely
to endanger other drivers from the point at which the lights on the
safety car are turned off. "What Car 81 did was clearly a breach
of that article. "In accordance with the penalty guidelines, we
imposed a 10-second time penalty to Car 81." As well as the
10-second time penalty, Piastri was also issued two points on his
super licence - his sixth in the last 12 months.
