Was Oscar Piastri’s penalty at the British Grand Prix too harsh?
Revisiting Oscar Piastri’s penalty at the British Grand Prix
Several storylines emerged following the checkered flag at the end of the British Grand Prix.
Of course, there was hometown hero Lando Norris, winning the race he wanted most in front of a grandstand bearing his name.
Then there was Nico Hülkenberg, and perhaps Formula 1’s greatest story of perseverance. 15 years after making his F1 debut in 2010 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hülkenberg finally climbed onto a podium with a third-place finish at Silverstone. That ended the longest wait for a driver before their first podium finish, as that P3 came in Hülkenberg’s 239th career F1 start.
There was also a spin from Max Verstappen that knocked him down the running order from second to tenth. While the Red Bull driver recovered to finish fifth, it was not the end to the day he was hoping for. The team fitted a low-downforce rear wing on his RB21 ahead of Saturday which powered him to pole position, but that cost him in wet conditions.
Then there was perhaps THE storyline: Oscar Piastri’s ten-second penalty for a Safety Car infringement, coming after the McLaren driver braked heavily near the end of a Safety Car period. Piastri was running up front and leading the field to the restart, but after serving the penalty he came out behind Norris, and had to settle for second.
And he was none too happy about it.
Race officials have weighed in, as have many of you online. So it’s time to put it to a vote in this week’s F1 installment of SB Nation Reacts. Was Piastri’s penalty too harsh? Too lenient? Or just right?