Brown dissects race-changing Piastri incident and what "made it look worse than it was"

19:17, 06 Jul

Updated: 19:31, 06 Jul

byLuke-John Buckle

Zak Brown's McLaren team took a brilliant one-two finish at the British Grand Prix as Lando Norris won at Silverstone for the first time. That is after Oscar Piastri received a penalty by the stewards. The CEO defended his driver after the Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri saw the chequered flag in second place as Nico Hulkenberg took an emotional first F1 podium in his Sauber.

The McLaren driver was blisteringly fast in the first stint of the race and pushed to overtake Max Verstappen.

Piastri eventually got ahead into Stowe and the end of the Hangar straight and built an advantage but the race was neutralised with the Safety Car being deployed.

However, after the second restart, Piastri braked hard as the Safety Car entered the pit lane, for which he received a ten-second time penalty.

Zak Brown said the incident was "a close one"

Speaking after the race to Sky Sports, Brown explained he felt the incident was a close call at the Safety Car restart.

The McLaren CEO said: “The Safety Car seemed like it was called in a bit late. The leader controls… I think Max accelerated, Oscar braked, which made it look worse than it was. The telemetry didn’t look like it looked on tv. But it is what it is.

“I think any time you get into these penalties, there’s an element of subjectivity. I think when they’re pounding on the brakes, they’re 130-140 PSI, so trying to get temperature in the tyres, it’s wet, late call – a close one."

While the British now has a firm grasp on the Constructors' Championship, the gap between Oscar Piastri and Norris in the drivers' standings stands at only 8 points.