Why McLaren thinks Oscar Piastri’s British GP penalty was “very harsh”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has explained why he felt Oscar Piastri’s 10-second penalty that cost him victory in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix was “very harsh.”

Ahead of a safety car restart on lap 21 in mixed weather race, leader Piastri jumped on the brakes on the Hangar Straight just as the lights went out on the safety car to signal a restart on the next lap.

Behind him, Max Verstappen had to swerve and take avoiding action in response, momentarily passing Piastri on the right and uttering his displeasure at the Australian.

The stewards handed Piastri a 10-second penalty because they felt the severity with which he suddenly slowed down was erratic.

“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,” the FIA stewards wrote.

“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.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

McLaren team boss Stella, who studied the footage and the data before speaking to the written media, felt the penalty was “very harsh” as the stewards hadn’t taken into account mitigating circumstances.

“I have to say that the penalty still looks very harsh,” he said. “There are a few factors that we would have liked the stewards to take into account.

“First of all, the safety car was called in very late, not leaving much time for the leader to actually restart, in conditions in which you lose tyre temperature, you lose brake temperature, and the same was for everyone.

“The 50 bar, it’s a pressure that you see during the safety car when you do some braking and acceleration.”

Referring to Verstappen’s radio comments, he added: “We’d like to see also if other competitors made the situation look worse than what it is, because we know that as part of the race craft for some competitors, definitely there’s also the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not. So, a few things to review.”

Verstappen later said he felt Piastri’s 10-second penalty was “extreme.”

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images

Stella said McLaren, which still claimed a 1-2 with Norris winning the race instead, would take no further steps on the penalty but would still like to follow up the incident with the governing body.

“Now the penalty has been decided, has been served, and we move on,” the Italian said. “We will see if there’s anything to learn on our side, and I’m sure Oscar will use this motivation for being even more determined for the races to come.

“I think we will have a good conversation with the FIA and with the stewards, and we will see how this situation could have been interpreted differently.

“We thought it was appropriate to discuss after the race, because I think we should have checked in detail the opinion of the drivers involved, and we should have checked why the safety car was called in so late, and then put together all the elements such that the decision could be as fair as possible.”