McLaren’s Team Principal Andrea Stella spoke about Oscar Piastri’s penalty following the F1 British GP. Piastri significantly decreased his speed from 218kph to 52kph behind the Safety Car. As a result, he received a 10-second penalty and two penalty points to his Super License.
Stella said in this print media session he found Piastri’s penalty to be “harsh” upon re-analyzing their data following the race.
“I have to say that the penalty still looks very harsh.
“There’s a few factors that we would have liked the stewards to take into account.
“The Safety Car was called in very late, not leaving much time for the leader to actually restart in conditions in which you lose tyre temperature, you lose brake temperature.
“The 50 bar, it’s a pressure that you see during a Safety Car when you do some braking and acceleration.
“We’ll have to see also if other competitors made the situation look worse than what it is. We know that as part of the race craft of some competitors, definitely there’s also the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not.”
Stella stated that McLaren would take no further steps in appealing the penalty. The team and Piastri will use it as motivation for future races.
“A few things to review, but in itself, now the penalty has been decided, has been served, and we move on.
“I think we will see if there’s anything to learn on our side. I’m sure Oscar will use this motivation for being even more determined for the races to come and try and win as many races as possible in the future.”
McLaren not appealing Piastri’s F1 British GP penalty
Despite not appealing Piastri’s penalty, Stella would like to have a conversation with the FIA and stewards about the decision.
“The fact that today we have a situation in which we judge, as a team, as being a harsh penalty for one of our drivers doesn’t change our opinion that the FIA and the stewards. They do a difficult job. They all try their best. I think they do their best also to try and be consistent.
“It’s always difficult to make the right calls. What’s important is that we keep the dialogue going. I think we will have a good conversation with the FIA and with the stewards.
“We will see how this situation could have been interpreted differently.”
Stella claimed that the team wanted to review the incident after the F1 British GP to gain perspective from all the drivers involved. He reiterated how the late Safety Car call affected Piastri’s braking speed.
“What we said during the race was that we thought it was appropriate to discuss after the race. I think we should have checked in detail the opinion of the drivers involved and we should have checked why the Safety Car was called in so late, and then put together all the elements such that the decision could be as fair as possible.”
McLaren’s response to Piastri’s request for team orders at the British GP
After serving his 10-second penalty, Piastri lost his lead to teammate Lando Norris. Piastri asked his team if they were willing to swap the position of the cars, if they also felt the penalty was unfair. The team refused his request and Piastri finished the race in P2, six seconds behind his teammate.
Stella explained that the team encourages their drivers to tell the pit wall any suggestions, which is what Piastri demonstrated during the British GP.
“As part of the way we go racing together, as a team and with Lando and Oscar, we always tell our drivers, ‘Don’t keep things in the back of your mind while you drive. If you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want to let us know what you’re thinking, just say it.’
“Then we will evaluate the people, we will make a decision, we will come back to you.
“So, I think what Oscar did is exactly what we incentivise our drivers to do. He communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated.”
Stella: Piastri would retain lead despite penalty if Safety Car came out during F1 British GP
Stella went on to explain the team’s strategy decision at the British GP. If another Safety Car came out before the team switched to slick tyres, the team would let Piastri stay ahead since Norris would pit after him. Since there was not another Safety Car, Piastri served the penalty before Norris pit.
“The way we managed the situation today, given the penalty, was to allow Oscar, in case of a Safety Car, to retain the lead.
“If it was a Safety Car, both cars would have pitted, Oscar would have paid the penalty, Lando would have waited, and the two McLarens would have come out in the same order as they came in.
“But at the point in which we needed to have the transition to the dry tyres, then the penalty was paid. At that stage, we thought that we should just retain the natural order gained through the penalty.
“So, I think this was fair for both and I’m sure that Oscar will understand and agree with this point of view.”
