Was Piastri's penalty unfair? This is what Brundle had to say about the controversial episode

15:34, 07 Jul

Updated: 17:36, 07 Jul

byTobia Elia

Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle analysed the controversial Safety Car incident that led the stewards to hand Oscar Piastri a ten-second penalty, costing him the win at Silverstone.

Among the drivers who have the most reason to feel disappointed after the British Grand Prix is undoubtedly Oscar Piastri, who had been delivering a brilliant race up until lap 21 — only for it to be marred by a controversial incident that ultimately cost him the win.

The reference is clearly to the incident that occurred under the Safety Car, when the Australian driver suddenly braked in front of Max Verstappen, earning a ten-second penalty that proved costly.

After serving the penalty, it was local hero Lando Norris who ultimately benefited, seizing the opportunity to claim his first-ever win on home soil in England.

Brundle weighs in on Piastri's penalty

The Australian driver expressed his frustration with the stewards’ decision, all the more so given that a similar incident involving George Russell in Canada went unpenalised.

Analyzing the incident between Piastri and Verstappen in his column for Sky Sports, Martin Brundle commented: ''Unfortunately for him he was in a brake-warming phase, but even so he shed 100 mph in that moment and he breached rule 55.15 of the Sporting Regulations regarding erratic braking or manoeuvres.''

''However, this is a very important rule as the concertina effect, especially in poor visibility, can cause significant incidents in a ripple effect through the rest of the queue behind the Safety Car. As indeed it very nearly did.

The Briton also added: ''Ten seconds would be the standard issue unless there were mitigating circumstances to make it five seconds. But the stewards decided not given the extent of brake pressure and speed reduction in the car data.''

''Lando would beat Oscar by 6.8 seconds and so the penalty was the decider, although we'll never know how much speed either of them had in their pockets if required.''