Oscar Piastri chose his words carefully after the British Grand Prix, although it was clear he was angry after being awarded a ten second penalty for a Safety Car infringement.
Victory looked to be in the bag for the Australian driver around the historic Silverstone Circuit, as he carved out a 13-second advantage over the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in as many laps.
The 24-year-old nailed the first Safety Car restart and broke out of DRS range of Verstappen behind yet again, but his lead was wiped out when the Safety Car was called out for a second time a few laps later.
On the second Safety Car restart, Piastri applied significant brake pressure just as Verstappen accelerated up to him, resulting in the latter taking collision-avoiding action.
Was A Ten Second Penalty Too Harsh?
Race stewards had a look at the incident at the front of the pack, and subsequently handed Piastri a ten-second penalty for what they called a "Safety Car infringement".
The McLaren driver eventually served his penalty on lap 44, ceding the lead of the Grand Prix to his teammate Lando Norris. He finished 6.8 seconds behind Norris at the chequered flag, so the penalty most likely cost Piastri victory.
Immediately after the race, Piastri was asked about his opinion on the penalty decision. Quite wisely, the Australian chose not to say much.
He said: "I'm not going to say much. I'll get myself in trouble.
"Well done to Nico. I think that's the highlight of the day," Piastri added, praising the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg for achieving his first podium finish in 239 races.
When pushed for more insight, Piastri remained tight-lipped.
He concluded: "Apparently you can't brake behind the Safety Car any more. I did it for five laps before that.
"I'm not going to say much because I'll get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone, even if I don't like it today."
The McLaren Bosses Weigh In
McLaren CEO Zak Brown gave his opinion on Piastri's penalty, although he's not sure if his driver deserved to be punished for his actions or not.
He 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," Brown stated.
The Team Principal of the Woking-based outfit, Andrea Stella, was sympathetic towards Piastri who most likely would have come home ahead of Norris were it not for the penalty.
Stella added: "We certainly gave our input to the race direction, especially related to the fact that we thought the Safety Car was called in relatively late. This didn’t give much space for the leading driver to actually take control of the group and go with the restarting procedure.
"We think overall that the penalty has been harsh, but we will review the data. Like usual, we will see if there’s any learning from that. At the moment, there’s not much we can do. We just have to take it on the chin.
"A tough one for Oscar because he drove very well today. But it’s just mid-season. Many more opportunities and I think this will give Oscar more motivation," concluded the McLaren boss.
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