Oscar Piastri didn’t wish to elaborate much on F1 British GP penalty that cost him win, as Andrea Stella terms it as harsh one.
Having retained second at the start of F1 British GP at a wet Silverstone, McLaren’s Piastri chipped in slowly at Max Verstappen and eventually got through him to lead the grand prix. He had a decent buffer on teammate Lando Norris, while the weather played its game.
He retained lead after pit stop where Norris lost second to Verstappen. The first safety car re-start was fine, but the second one caught the Australian out. While it looked dangerous on camera, but Piastri and team boss Stella felt it was not as dangerous as it was made out to be.
As Piastri braked to prepare for the re-start, he did so in a way that caught out Verstappen and even the rest of the F1 field. The move was put under investigation and he was handed a 10s time penalty. Post-race, the FIA stewards explaining why he it needed a penalty since he braked with 59.2 psi power.
He went from 218 km/hr to 52 km/hr, which forced Verstappen to take evasive action. Piastri was pretty angry from that point onward and even checked if they can swap with Norris. Post-race, he didn’t wish to speak much to Jenson Button, citing risk of a penalty from the FIA.
He had a smile but was pretty disappointed. In the press conference, he explained his side of things in a restrained manner, while not aligning with the penalty. Stella echoed the sentiments on harsh penalty, while elaborating on why Piastri made the request of a potential position swap.
The second place meant, he now has only eight points buffer on Norris. Red Bull’s Verstappen was a bit surprised by the penalty, but team boss Christian Horner was not as much. He felt it was similar to George Russell’s in Canada and a penalty was warranted in that instance as well.
What happened –
Piastri: “I hit the brakes. At the same time I did that, the lights on the Safety Car went out, which was also extremely late. 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. So, a shame. I don’t know [if I’ll talk to the stewards]. I don’t think it’s worth doing at the moment. I’m not sure it’s going to be very constructive in all honesty. I don’t know. But I don’t really care at the moment.”
Stella: “I was actually taking another look at the data and the video before coming here, so apologies if I’m late, but I just wanted to take another look after the initial look that we took live during the race. I have to say that the penalty still looks very harsh. There’s 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 tire temperature, you lose brake temperature, and the same was for everyone. The 50 bar, it’s pressure that you see during a safety car when you do some braking and acceleration.
“We’ll have to see also if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is, because we know that as part of the race craft of 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, but in itself now the penalty has been decided, has been served, and we move on. I think 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 and try and win as many races as possible in the future.”
Inconsistent penalties –
Piastri: “I don’t know how different it was. I can only comment on what I felt I did, which I felt was well within the rules, and I did it once already in that race. So, yeah. I don’t really get it. I’ll go have a look back. I don’t think he had to evade me. I think he managed the first time. Going back to Canada, I think you had to evade more there than you did today. So, yeah, I’m a bit confused to say the least.”
Stella: “Look, the fact that today we have a situation in which we judge as a team as being a harsh penalty for one of our drivers doesn’t change our opinion that the FIA and the stewards, they do a difficult job, they all try their best, I think they do their best also to try and be consistent. There’s many different scenarios, all the scenarios they change for some subtleties, it’s no different, I think, operating as a steward or the FIA from operating as a team, it’s always difficult to make the right calls.
“So what’s important is that we keep the dialogue going, 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. What we said during the race was that 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.”
Verstappen: “I only found out after the race that he got one, no one told me during the race. The thing is that it happened to me now a few times, this kind of scenario. I just find it strange. Then suddenly, now, Oscar is the first one to receive 10 seconds for it. To the stewards, yes [Piastri’s was different to Russell’s Canada moment].”
Horner: “I wasn’t surprised to see him get a penalty. I was more surprised that George didn’t get one in Montreal, to be honest with you. Unfortunately, our race (Britain) unraveled from that point.”
Moving on from frustration –
Piastri: “I don’t know. It obviously hurts at the moment. 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. Ultimately, when you don’t get the result you think you deserve, it hurts, especially when it’s not in your control.”
Race overall, confidence –
Piastri: “A lot. I think it was a really, really good day. A similar race to here 12 months ago and a very different outcome for the whole team. The whole team did a really good job. The car was obviously mega, and giving myself credit, I feel like I did a good job today. So, it just makes it more painful when you don’t win.”
Team order request –
Piastri: “Yeah. I thought I would ask the question. I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked. But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Lando didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think it would have been particularly fair to have swapped, but I thought I’d at least ask. It doesn’t change much for the championship. I feel like I did a good job today. I did what I needed to. That’s all I need, and I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.”
Stella: “As part of the way we go racing together, as a team and with Lando and Oscar, we always tell our drivers, don’t keep things in the back of your mind while you drive, if you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want to let us know what you’re thinking, just say it. And then we will evaluate the people, we will make a decision, we will come back to you. So I think what Oscar did is exactly what we incentivized our drivers to do, he communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated.
“In reality, the way we managed the situation today, given the penalty, was to allow Oscar, despite the penalty, in case of a safety car, to retain the lead because if it was a safety car, both cars would have pitted, Oscar would have paid the penalty, Lando would have waited and the two McLarens would have come out in the same order as they came in. But at the point in which we needed to have the transition to the dry tyres, then the penalty was paid and at that stage we thought that we should just retain the natural order gained through the penalty. So I think this was fair for both and I’m sure that Oscar will understand and agree with this point of view.”
Here’s Oscar Piastri clearing Max Verstappen: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-british-grand-prix-piastri-overtakes-verstappen-on-lap-8-to-take-the-lead-of-the-race.1836908523592483920
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-british-grand-prix-verstappen-holds-off-piastri-at-the-start-to-lead-the-opening-lap.1836907254283884952
Here’s how F1 British GP panned out + penalty details
