Did Verstappen truly outsmart Piastri? Here's what the new data says

14:02, 16 Jul

Co-author:Kada Sárközi

byLudo van Denderen

Oscar Piastri saw a victory at the British Grand Prix slip away from his hands after receiving a ten-second time penalty. According to the stewards, the Australian braked erratically, almost causing a collision with Max Verstappen. But is that really the case? Jolyon Palmer, former F1 driver and now analyst, shares his opinion.

Not long after the incident, McLaren was heard suggesting Verstappen made the situation seem worse than it was. The Briton believes Piastri did nothing out of the ordinary. "He didn’t break as hard as he could. That’s clear," the former F1 driver said on the F1 Nation podcast.

"I’ve looked at the data, and just four corners earlier, coming out of Copse, before Maggots, there’s a nice long stretch. Oscar does the same thing," Palmer explained.

He added: "He was routinely breaking at 60 psi, brake pressure. That was not an extraordinary amount. You know, he’s doing it every lap. Every lap at the same point on the Hanger Straight, he’s hitting that brake pressure. It’s not shocking."

max verstappen in gesprek met oscar piastri

Palmer sees Verstappen playing a role

According to Palmer, for the outsiders, 60 psi may seem a lot. But he says: "Formula 1 cars can brake more than double that. I know George [Russell] braked at 30 psi [in Canada], but it’s irrelevant. It doesn’t matter. That’s an incident that wasn’t punished, and is very different."

Palmer wants to point out that numbers are relative. Besides, he also sees Verstappen playing a role in the situation. "Max, before, was able to break at 60 psi and stop. And at that point, when he went past Oscar, he braked at about 40 psi and went past him."