Oscar Piastri reveals ‘different hurt’ after penalty cost British GP win

Oscar Piastri admitted that it was painful to miss out on victory in the British Grand Prix as a result of a penalty.

The Australian was handed a 10-second time penalty after he braked just as the Safety Car accelerated away from the pack, with Max Verstappen sailing past the McLaren.

Oscar Piastri ‘didn’t do anything differently’ after penalty cost British GP win

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The Safety Car had neutralised the field following a deluge of rain, which reduced visibility to near zero, while aquaplaning became a serious risk as the field ran on intermediate rubber.

As conditions cleared, on Lap 21 the Safety Car extinguished its lights to signal that it would be withdrawn at the end of the lap as it traversed Hangar Straight – just three corners from the end of the lap.

As it did, Piastri applied the brakes, an action stewards found breached both the F1 Sporting Regulations and the International Sporting Code.

Specifically, officials cited Article 55.15 of the Sporting Regulations, which states “drivers must proceed at a pace which involves no erratic acceleration or braking nor any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers or impede the restart.”

That same article also exists within the International Sporting Code.

Piastri was found to have braked suddenly at a rate of 59.2psi to take his speed down from 218kph to 52kph after the call that the Safety Car was being brought back in, with Verstappen having complained at the sudden stop on team radio.

The penalty left Piastri indignant immediately post-race, initially refusing to be drawn on the topic when asked by Jenson Button shortly after climbing from the car.

However, he was more forthcoming following the podium presentation, voicing his confusion over the rationale for the penalty.

“I hit the brakes,” he began. “At the same time I did that, the lights on the Safety Car went out, which was also extremely late.

“And then obviously I didn’t accelerate, because I can control the pace from there, and, yeah… saw the results.

“I mean, I didn’t do anything differently to my first restart; I didn’t go any slower; I didn’t do anything differently. So a shame.”

Investigated during the race, officials handed Piastri – who held a slender lead over team-mate Lando Norris at the time – the race-defining penalty.

Serving the 10-seconds at his second stop, as he switched from intermediate tyres to slicks, Piastri slipped into second behind Norris.

He then trailed his team-mate to the flag, crossing the line 6.8s adrift at the chequered flag.

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“It obviously hurts at the moment,” Piastri confessed of the result.

“It’s a different hurt, though, because I know I deserved a lot more than what I got today.

“I felt like I drove a really strong race. And yeah, ultimately, when you don’t get the result you think you deserve, it hurts.”

While left reeling from the penalty that arguably cost him victory, and saw his championship advantage slashed to eight points, the Australian doesn’t believe it’s worth pursuing the matter further.

“I don’t know,” he admitted if he’d take up the incident with the stewards.

“I don’t think it’s worth doing at the moment; not sure it’s going to be very constructive, in all honesty.

“I don’t really care at the moment.”

Speaking post-race, Max Verstappen admitted he was surprised Piastri was penalised for the incident.

Though the Red Bull driver sailed by the McLaren driver at the time, he suggested the stewards decision was inconsistent with others.

In Canada, Verstappen had been similarly caught out by George Russell, with that moment going unpenalised.

“I don’t know how different it was,” Piastri said when asked about the similarities with that incident. “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. So, yep, I don’t really get it.”

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