A 10-second penalty cost Oscar Piastri a win at Silverstone, but was it deserved? Recent history suggests perhaps not.
— Although he tempered his answers to the media on Sunday evening, Oscar Piastri couldn’t hide his emotions as he responded to countless questions about the 10-second penalty that cost him victory at the British Grand Prix. For fear of attracting the wrath of the FIA, he gave short and simple answers to TV cameras, refusing to elaborate on the true feelings that were no doubt seething inside.
Finishing his broadcast media duties long before his ebullient teammate and race winner, Lando Norris, meant Piastri had to wait alone for 25 minutes in the news conference room before the compulsory written media session began. When it did, Piastri again carefully trod the line between making no secret of his frustration and venting his true emotions.
« It obviously hurts at the moment », he said. « 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. Especially when it’s not in your control. »
Famed for his calmness over team radio and inscrutable reactions to race wins, Piastri is practiced in keeping his emotions under wraps.
Up until lap 21, and a second safety car restart, he had done everything right at Silverstone, but one seemingly routine jab of the brakes cost him victory as well as a 14-point swing in the drivers’ standings in Norris’ favor.
There was little doubt on Sunday evening that Piastri had not intended to do anything untoward or gain an advantage by catching the driver behind him, Max Verstappen, off guard. A period of two back-to-back safety car periods spanning seven laps had resulted in his tires and brakes cooling, and the best way to rebuild temperature was to brake heavily and make use of the heat generated by the glowing carbon brake discs.
« I hit the brakes », Piastri explained. « At the same time I did that, the lights on the safety car went out, which was also extremely late [around the lap].
« And then obviously, I didn’t accelerate because I can control the pace from there. And, yeah, you saw the result. I didn’t do anything differently to my first restart. I didn’t go any slower. I didn’t do anything differently. »
But the heavy braking, and the fact Piastri didn’t then accelerate immediately after, resulted in second-placed Verstappen being caught by surprise. The Red Bull driver sailed past the McLaren, breaching one of the simplest safety car rules in the process by overtaking the car in front.
At first it looked like Verstappen might be investigated, but the stewards honed in on Piastri’s actions as the cause for the overlapping cars.
With access to the telemetry of the McLaren, the stewards were able to analyze the exact input on the brakes and accurately measure the 100 mph speed difference before and after his left foot stomped on the pedal. What they found led them to believe Piastri had broken another safety car rule that outlaws erratic driving.
A stewards’ statement read: « 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.
