PF1 Postbox: Elkann’s Ferrari intervention, Piastri’s penalty widely denounced

The latest edition of the PlanetF1.com Postbox is here, and you have had your say on all the recent headlines to come from the world of Formula 1.

Don’t forget, if you wanted to have your say on anything Formula 1-related, either comment on our articles or submit an email to planetf1editor@planetsport.com with the subject line ‘PF1 Postbox’. For now, let’s see what you have had to say on the fallout from the weekend.

Oscar Piastri penalty dubbed unfair by F1 fans

We had over 2,000 votes on our poll asking whether or not Oscar Piastri’s 10-second penalty in Brazil was fair, and a whopping 73% of you at time of writing said it was not.

Piastri was penalised for his contact with Kimi Antonelli on the restart at Interlagos, but let’s take a look at what some of you had to say…

Remove DRS Button: I would’ve gone 5 sec and no penalty points at most if there needed to be a penalty.

Stephan: He went in hot, locked up, lost control, hit another car…. textbook stuff really for a penalty.

Adam Smith: Piastri’s front tyre made contact with Kimi’s rear tyre, he should never of been there, he was never getting past and it ruined another drivers race.. slam dunk penalty for Oscar.

Danny: It was fair in the way Max got a penalty for the same thing in Abu Dhabi 2024.

Now, should either of them have gotten a penalty?

IMO no, they shouldn’t have. We want to see racing, not parading.

Ex Pitlane Monkey: I said yesterday that I thought Oscar’s penalty was harsh and that to me it looked 50/50 between he and Kimi, but I would still put that down to nothing more than an unfortunate racing incident.

More reaction to Sao Paulo GP talking points

👉 Forget reverse grids: F1 Sprint reached its complete form in Brazil

👉 PF1 verdict: Did Ferrari president’s ‘talk less’ Hamilton and Leclerc message hit or miss?

John Elkann comments ‘a low blow’ after dubbing Ferrari ‘not up to par’

After Ferrari chairman John Elkann’s comments about Ferrari’s underwhelming performance this season, we had our say on matters, and you replied with split opinions about what the Scuderia boss had to say.

Bitey Brembillo: With sentimental people on board, it is a miss. Also, rhetorically, it is a miss as well. To the point where he has praised the quality of the pit stops this year, he was right – those were better than usual, but after that he has said too big things. One can argue that he is right that the car has improved compared to last year, but the rivals have improved quite a bit more, so even that statement is a bit weak common sense-wise.

Dan Rich: Elkann has no right to publicy admonish his drivers, it’s a low blow and reeks of desperate means to an end which will be his downfall.

K T: He can’t openly say ‘Hamilton’, so he’s been forced into ‘the drivers’ comment, which is unfair on CL [Charles Leclerc] as this is a very public dressing down. That said, almost everyone understands it’s directed at Hamilton and I think it’s pretty reasonable. If I’d paid 60 million quid for a driver who has yet to score a podium and puts his car 13th when the other guy is 3rd, I think I’d be inclined to tell him to shut up and just drive the car better.

f1oldergenfanny: The only criticism someone should make on Elkann is that he kinda included Leclerc in his comments. He should have been more direct and called out who is under performing and not a Ferrari driver worthy.

Alan Ford: Alonso won at his debut for Ferrari. Vettel was on the podium which was followed by a win (after almost two years for Ferrari). And Schumacher won three races with that F310. That is what is expected of champions. This season, Hulkenberg, Sainz, and Hadjar have had podium finishes. Elkann is actually showing remarkable restraint.

Fast Guy: The last time Ferrari did well was when its President stayed out of the F1 works and let them do their thing.

J Z: Perhaps he has the wrong view of his engineers who produced a tractor. They went the wrong direction this season as evidenced by even Leclerc who is furniture at Ferrari with no win. Simple fact is if you don’t give drivers a car that can perform they have to overdrive it which results in issues compounding. Not rocket science the Ferrari car is a mile off because its fundamentally in the wrong direction.

Mark Abbott: Elkann, Fred, engineers and designers along with other technical staff have failed. Definitely not the drivers. Renowned for excuses year after year the prancing horse is no longer. Ferrari are a joke. Look at Red Bull, Mercedes even Haas are able to introduce more competitive cars. What I am looking forward to is Audi. I think they are going to be great for the sport.

Tyrone Biggs: Too little, too late! You brought this on yourself, Elkann.

Kumba: There are chances that Elkann’s comments about the drivers were adressed to Hamilton only.

It’s understandable, as they paid so much for him only to bring worse results than Sainz would get.

Samhain: This head in the sand attitude is why they haven’t won a title in 17 years. Whenever they’ve had a challenger there’s been some technical infringement. When they have so many clear advantages the buck has to stop at the top.

Norris leads the way, but high praise for Max Verstappen’s pit lane to podium drive

Our data expert, Uros Radovanovic, did a deep dive into how Max Verstappen was able to recover from a pit-lane start and a slow puncture to reach the podium at Interlagos. Needless to say, many of you agree the reigning World Champion performed another remarkable comeback on Sunday.

Rob B: Another incredible display from Max and his team. No wonder he has kept faith in them post-Newey and post-Horner.

Bret Sinclair: A new power unit with only 4 races to run was a strategic master-piece. Add that to having plenty of fresh soft tyres available meant Max could take liberties with the engine and tyres when others were doing their typical in-race preservation management.

Max will be burning that engine hard in the final 3 races too.

GK: Well written Uros, what a great race from Verstappen once again. A great rebound strategically considering what happened for qualifying. I’m not sure why Red Bull made such changes that had such a drastic result but I am not an engineer lol. Excellent idea to absorb the penalties for PU change, I believe Norris and Piastri are in need of a new PU as well so who knows, it might give Max an advantage at one of the races. I kind of thought they would do that anyway considering Max’s performance at Brazil for many years. I am still rooting for M4X to win this year.

David Brooke: Yes it was a good drive but he had all new engine parts that is bound to give him a huge advantage. Remember back to 2021 when Hamilton came through the field. Good drive but nothing special really. He couldn’t over take the Mercedes driver for 2nd at the end when he had plenty of time to do so.

Downforce: If Max was in the McLaren the title would be wrapped up many races ago and the world would not have witnessed the greatness of his talent with an inferior car this year. Bearman is another driver that is taking great performances from an inferior car.

Ilir: I still think Max will take the title this year. The McLaren drivers are nowhere near Max’s level. They’ll fold at the last hurdle.

That would be some turnaround from here, Ilir…

Read next: Red Bull hopeful lauded with ‘boldness of Verstappen’, but will it change his fate?