McLaren’s Oscar Piastri surprised by ‘harsh’ Brazil penalty
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McLaren's Oscar Piastri is expecting further talks with the FIA to understand the penalty decision.
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LAS VEGAS – McLaren’s Oscar Piastri says he was surprised by the severity of the 10-second penalty he received for a collision at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Nov 9, and expects further talks with Formula One’s governing body to understand the decision.
The stewards said Piastri was “wholly responsible” for the incident in Brazil, and gave him two penalty points on his licence in addition to the time penalty, but the sanction has been criticised by fellow drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc
“Fortunately for me, a lot of people have done the talking for me,” the Australian told reporters on Nov 19 ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas GP.
“I think when one of my fellow drivers is involved in the accident and says it’s not (all) your fault, I think that’s a pretty good indication.”
Piastri served the penalty for the early clash with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, which put Ferrari’s Leclerc out of the race.
Piastri went on to finish fifth in the race, won by teammate and title rival Lando Norris
The 23-year-old said he and McLaren would seek clarification from the FIA on how the stewards had arrived at the decision and whether the penalty guidelines needed to be reviewed.
“It’s something that I’m sure we’ll talk about with the FIA, just to get some more understanding,” he said.
“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 stressed he was not looking for an immediate rule change but wanted to understand the reasoning behind the stewards’ call in a bid to improve consistency.
“The only thing you can do in these situations is try to learn the reasoning and thinking behind it and whether that needs to change or not,” he added.
Previous discussions between drivers, teams and officials over incidents and penalties had generally been constructive, and he expected the same this time.
“It’s been very receptive to that in the past, and I'm pretty sure it will be, in the future,” he said.
In other news, Lewis Hamilton has dismissed suggestions of friction within Ferrari after team chairman John Elkann’s recent comments
Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s race, the seven-time world champion said he had not taken Elkann’s comments personally and remained in regular contact with the Ferrari chief.
“John and I, we speak almost every week, so we have a great relationship,” Hamilton said when asked about Elkann’s remarks.
“I didn’t have a reaction to it. We look into those things too much.”
Leclerc echoed Hamilton’s comments, saying he viewed the remarks as a reflection of Elkann’s desire to win.
“I know John is a very ambitious person and wants to push everyone to the maximum to get the maximum results,” he said.
“He loves Ferrari, I love Ferrari, we all love Ferrari and we try to do the best in every situation.”
Ferrari suffered a double retirement in Sao Paulo, their second race of the season without either driver in the points.
Close runners-up to McLaren last season, they have slipped to fourth in the constructors’ standings – behind champions McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. REUTERS
