Guenther Steiner hits out at McLaren handling of Piastri Brazil GP penalty

McLaren reacted with acceptance after Oscar Piastri was given a 10-second penalty at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a punishment which restricted him to fifth and delivered a hammer blow to his title hopes.

For that, Guenther Steiner – the former Red Bull technical operations director and ex-Haas team principal – handed McLaren the ‘wanker’ award at Interlagos for not going into bat for Piastri against the FIA stewards, even when Charles Leclerc – the driver eliminated via Piastri’s incident – has cleared the McLaren driver of full blame.

Guenther Steiner to McLaren: ‘Need to fight for your team’

At the Lap 6 race restart, Piastri, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari went three-wide into Turn 1. The prize was second place.

But, Piastri, ushered up onto the inside kerb, would lock a wheel and tag Antonelli into Leclerc. The incident spelt immediate retirement from the race for Leclerc, who suffered a suspension breakage on the front left, as the tyre went rolling off down the hill.

The stewards deemed Piastri to be “wholly” at fault for the collision, and gave him a 10-second penalty. Leclerc, however, did not believe that Piastri was fully in the wrong.

“It’s a shame. Collateral damage of an incident between Oscar and Kimi where, in my opinion, Kimi was as much to blame as Oscar,” Leclerc told the media at Interlagos.

However, it was a verdict from the FIA stewards which McLaren, while branding it “harsh”, was accepted.

“In terms of the penalty, I would say that definitely on the harsh side,” team principal Andrea Stella told the media.

“Oscar, it’s true, we see a little lock-up, but at the same time, he’s able to maintain the trajectory which is ultimately what counts.

“I think the responsibility should be shared with Kimi because Kimi kind of knew that Oscar was on the inside and the collision probably could have been avoided.

“Perhaps Kimi was also worried of having Leclerc on the outside, a difficult situation obviously, but I think overall the penalty is harsh for Oscar to be considered fully to blame for this incident.

“At the same time, now it’s done, so I reiterate the respect that we have for the stewards, we accept it, we move on.”

Steiner cannot understand that approach from McLaren, and handed out the unwanted ‘wanker’ title for the race weekend.

On the plus side, McLaren’s Sao Paulo GP winner Lando Norris was crowned the ‘rockstar’ by Steiner.

Speaking about the Piastri, Antonelli and Leclerc incident during the Red Flags podcast, Steiner said: “As normally, the FIA doesn’t help, or the stewards don’t help themselves.

“But, I think the wanker is McLaren. Why you don’t go there and at least say something to the stewards?

“I mean, even Charles Leclerc said it wasn’t Oscar’s fault. Three-wide, and it’s the first lap… I mean, at some stage, with all these rules and interpretation and 10 seconds instead of five and all that stuff, where does racing end?

“We just line up and we get away, everybody gets away like they started. Make sure that you don’t even look at anybody, because you get a penalty. But the fans don’t like that.”

More on the F1 2025 title race from PlanetF1.com

👉 Have we all been wrong about Lando Norris?

👉 How Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have avoided bad blood in F1 2025 title rivalry

Had Steiner been back in the team principal hot seat and Piastri were his driver, “I would have gone there, and I think I would have flipped out, because for me, the guy which was taken out says, ‘No, actually, Oscar is not at fault.’ Alright then.

“I mean, who knows better than him, because he should be the cry baby, and say, ‘Oh, I was taken out.’ No, he’s the opposite.

“You need to fight for your team. You need to fight. Everything is a fight, and knowing you will lose a fight, but they still try.”

With three grands prix and a Sprint remaining, Piastri is 24 points behind Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Read next: Oscar Piastri ‘secret weapon’ as ‘assassin’ ally under the microscope