F1 drivers speak out on ‘unacceptable’ Oscar Piastri penalty at the Brazil Grand Prix
Senior Formula One drivers have called for an urgent review into the penalty Oscar Piastri received at the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix, describing the Australian’s punishment as “unacceptable”.
Senior Formula One drivers have called for an urgent review into the penalty Oscar Piastri received at the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix, describing the Australian’s punishment as “unacceptable”.
Piastri’s hopes of winning this year’s championship were badly dented when stewards imposed a 10-second penalty after blaming him for colliding with Kimi Antonelli in Brazil.
Piastri was in second place at the time, but dropped back to finish fifth after serving the penalty, costing him at least valuable points in the championship race, which he now trails by 24.
Almost everyone in F1 was in agreement that Piastri was hard done by, including Charles Leclerc whose race ended when he got caught up in the accident.
And now Williams driver Carlo Sainz, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said the guidelines around penalties needed to be looked at following the Piastri incident.
“I think we need urgently a catch-up and try and solve it because for me the fact that Oscar got a penalty there in Brazil is unacceptable, honestly, for the category that we are in and being the pinnacle of motorsport,” Sainz told a news conference ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I’m not going to explain why, I think you all guys saw what happened. I think everyone that has seen racing knows that that is not Oscar’s fault at all.
“Everyone else who has really raced a race car knows he could have done nothing to avoid an accident there.”
Piastri said he also thought the penalty was rough but he was grateful for the support other drivers had given him.
“Fortunately for me, a lot of people have done the talking for me,” he said.
“I think when one of my fellow drivers is involved in the accident and says it’s not your fault, I think that’s a pretty good indication.
“It’s something that I’m sure we’ll talk about with the FIA, just to get some more understanding.
“I think it was a bit of a surprise for everyone here that this penalty was so harsh, myself included. So I’m sure we’ll talk about it.”
Piastri is not the only driver to be left frustrated after incurring the wrath of the stewards this season. Plenty of others have also copped penalties, including Sainz himself, who thinks the problem lies with the guidelines rather than the stewards.
Although it will come too late to help Piastri, the drivers’ are set to meet with FIA officials at next week’s Qatar Grand Prix to discuss a range of matters and Sainz said the penalty would be on the agenda.
“I’m not sure what the solution is. I think it needs to be discussed among all of us,” he said.
“It is very clear for me that after what I saw in Brazil, something’s not quite working if we have to judge that as a 10 second penalty for the guy that had no fault for anything that he did.
“Another thing that I struggle with is lockups. Whenever we see a lockup, I think the steward immediately interprets that as out of control.
“(But) a lockup does not always mean out of control. You can lockup and still make the apex. I locked up in Austin in reaction to a move that Kimi did and Oscar reacts, locks up in Brazil in reaction too.
“It’s not like we were out of control and we were gonna miss the apex, crash and create a massive accident. I think it’s also something that needs to be reviewed.”
Las Vegas has not been a happy hunting ground in the past for Piastri but he said he was hopeful of doing better this time to try and get his championship bid back on track after struggling for the past two months.
“It’s never the nicest feeling to see your lead disappear, but for me the only thing you can do is just focus on what is ahead. I can’t go back and change any of the things that have happened this year,” he said.
“It’s obviously not been the easiest run for differing reasons in the last few races, but the only thing I can do is try and figure out how I’m going to do the best I can here in Vegas.
“I feel like we’ve prepared well. It’s not been necessarily the easiest track for us as a team, but I feel like we’ve got some good ideas and good learning from the last couple of races here.
“The last few races have been difficult for myself…the team has supported me and the car has l been identical through the whole season.
“There’s been some tough lessons to learn, some tough moments to have to accept and nothing more than that.”
Mercedes driver George Russell said the guidelines needed to take account different circuits and instances rather than have a blanket rule.
“You have to treat every single corner, every circuit, every incident totally different,” he said.
“If we have the same stewards race after race, we can have these conversations and explain to them some of the uniqueness in driving a Formula One car at a circuit like Brazil in a corner like turn one, where the tyre is going to be locking up. But it doesn’t mean you’re out of control.
“It’s very difficult for the stewards. They do their absolute best. And, the majority of the time they get it right.”
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