Piastri left fuming as 10-second penalty costs him victory in British Grand Prix

The Age

20 hours ago

He later insisted that his move had been 'well within the rules' and that he had already performed the manoeuvre once in the race. According to Piastri, he was breaking under safety car conditions in order to generate tyre and brake temperature.
'I don't really get it. I hit the brakes, and at the same time as I did, the lights went out on the safety car. I didn't accelerate because I can control the pace from there,' he said.
'I didn't do anything differently to my first restart. I didn't go slower. I don't think Max had to evade me. So I am a bit confused to say the least. I know I deserved a lot more than I did today and when you don't get the result you deserve, it hurts.
'Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car any more. I had done it for five laps before but I'm not going to say more, I'm going to get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today.'
Piastri even asked over the radio for McLaren to order him and Norris to swap places to cancel the effect of the penalty. The team declined to do so.
He said: 'I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked. But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that I could get it back but I knew it wasn't going to happen.
'Lando didn't do anything wrong so I don't think it would have been fair to swap, but I thought I should ask. It doesn't change much for the championship. I felt I did a good job and I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races.'
In a race with plenty of crashes and spins, Nico Hulkenberg – from 19th place on the grid – crossed in third for Sauber ahead of Hamilton's Ferrari. It was Hulkenberg's first podium finish in his 239th race of an F1 career that began in 2010.
His achievement also had the tears flowing, the German veteran making up 16 places to shed an unwanted record of the most races without a podium in Formula 1 history.
'I don't think I can comprehend what we've just done,' said the stunned German before wild celebrations with his teammates.
Was Piastri in the wrong?
The London Telegraph gave its verdict in a report by Luke Slater. He wrote:
The FIA stewards were clear in their verdict in awarding Piastri a 10-second penalty. Indeed, the incident looked clear-cut on initial viewing. The information in the FIA's statement does little to undermine that, in fact reinforcing it.
'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 (59.2 PSI of brake pressure) and reduced speed in the middle of the straight between T14 and T15, from 218kph to 52kph, resulting in car 1 having to take evasive action to avoid a collision,' their judgment read. 'This momentarily resulted in car 1 unavoidably overtaking car 81, a position which he gave back immediately.'
What appears to be at the root of the actions of both Piastri and Verstappen is the safety car's lights being extinguished suddenly and, clearly, unexpectedly. It meant Piastri did one thing – slowed down suddenly on the Hangar Straight – and Verstappen did not follow.
It is fair that the lead driver sets the pace once the safety car comes in, but there are limits to this. Piastri went too far, beyond what should be expected and accepted in this situation. It is worse when you consider the damp conditions with the pack bunched up and spray cascading from the front to the back.
The blame should be placed firmly with the Australian. He has a right to be disappointed, but that feeling should be turned inwards rather than outwards.
'It feels good. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? But I always knew we had it in us, I have it in me, somewhere.'
It was joy unconfined for the victor Norris, who said: 'This victory is everything I dreamed of. Being on top at your home race is very, very special.
'From a British perspective, I join a long list of pretty incredible winners – most of them are Lewis [Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix a record nine times] – so to join him and continue the reign of the British at Silverstone is amazing.
'Looking up at the fans and seeing them on their feet, your mind just goes pretty blank. The main thing is just don't f--- it up. I was just trying to enjoy the moment.
'But these are moments that none of you guys get to witness. This is only something that I, and very few Brits have achieved. It is a selfish moment, in a way, but so special and incredible because it is such a rare thing to feel and witness.'
Defending champion Verstappen started on pole but ended up fifth after spinning from second at a safety car restart and briefly dropping to 10th.
Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, Lance Stroll seventh for Aston Martin and Alex Albon eighth for Williams.
Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin a double points finish in ninth at their home race and George Russell bagged the final point for Mercedes.
Top three given Lego as reward
The top three finishers were rewarded for their efforts with trophies made of Lego toy bricks, a novelty appreciated by some more than others.
The trophies are part of a multi-year partnership between Lego and Formula 1 that has already put drivers in a fleet of 10 brick-built cars for a pre-race parade at the Miami Grand Prix, a moment that went viral.
'How does it feel after 15 years of F1 to get a podium [trophy] that's made out of Lego that you can just pull apart?' Piastri asked Hulkenberg.