Oscar Piastri, whose championship hopes were fading, suffered a further setback at the Sao Paolo Grand Prix. He finished fifth following a penalty he received for colliding Mercedes’ Kimi Antoniolli in an incident which caused Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to retire.
Piastri attempted to move up the inside of the Mercedes, but they made contact when the McLaren wheel locked. This caused Antonelli’s car to hit the unfortunate Leclerc who was on his outside.
Piastri advanced to second while Antonelli also ran wide. However, the stewards quickly investigated the incident. They ruled that McLaren’s driver was “wholly accountable for the accident”.
The sanction was “deemed appropriate and consistent with previous precedents”. He received a time penalty of 10 seconds, which he served during his first pitstop. Two penalty points were also added to his superlicense.
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Highlights of Sao Paulo Grand prix
As Piastri’s front axle “was not beside the mirror”, Stewards said. [Antonelli’s car]Sky Sports F1 asked him if he regretted making the move. He replied: “No, not at all.””I saw a clear opportunity and I took it. The two outsiders braked very late. The corner was quite crowded, but it was because I saw that Kimi wasn’t going to leave me any room.”I cannot disappear, but the decision stands.In a post on social media, Zak, McLaren’s Chief Executive who wasn’t in Brazil at the time, congratulated the team for Norris’ win and said Piastri was given a harsh penalty.Leclerc stated that Oscar’s optimism was misplaced. Kimi, however, knew Oscar was in the inside lane, and Kimi essentially did the corner as if Oscar wasn’t there.”For me, the blame does not lie solely with Oscar. It was an optimistic view, but it could have been avoided. I’m frustrated. The truth is, I’m not mad at Oscar or Kimi. These things happen. However, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was all Oscar’s fault. I don’t believe it is.”
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Karun Chadwick and Jamie Chadwick examine the opening-lap crash between Oscar Piastri Antonelli and Leclerc, as well the reactions from the drivers
Antonelli said that he tried to give Piastri space, but the Australian simply locked up on him and slid in.”It was a bad start. I had some wheelspin. “A bit aggressive on power,” the Italian said. He went on to win a career best second place after holding off Max Verstappen’s charge in the final laps.”To tell the truth, I had been trying to cover Charles and then I saw Piastri. It was not the best place to be. [in the middle of them]. I tried to break late, without locking up and to leave Charles space. I also tried not to close too much on the inside. He hit me because he had obviously locked up. To be fair, it was a huge hit and a shame that Charles’ race ended with this.Jamie Chadwick, describing it as “racing accident” where Antonelli shared some blame, said that Kimi was not using all of his space. I agree with Jamie Chadwick that Oscar was treated unfairly.Kimi should have stayed in the role, but she could have made Oscar’s job easier by not putting him at risk.He’s not locked up, in my opinion. He locked up when he saw Kimi turn a bit in front of him. His natural reaction was to press the pedal harder and turn as far left as possible towards the whiteline, causing the lock-up.Kimi still hasn’t given him enough room, even though he’s locked up.”Karun said: “The guidelines at the moment have looked at it and decided that he was not alongside the front axle to reflect at the apex. I do think this is an incorrect thing to apply because, if Oscar had dive-bombed in to get to the apex before Max did in Mexico, Antonelli would have been able to wipe out Leclerc in the corner even earlier.I think that, like in Mexico, this is an area where the guidelines do not work. I agree that it is a harsh penalty. [second one] The consequences for the other two cars were terrible. “For me, a few seconds might have been okay.” Formula 1’s exciting title race continues live on Sky Sports F1 with the Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 21 to 23. Sky Sports NOW is a great way to watch Sky Sports without a contract. You can cancel at any time.
2025-11-09 22:10:00
