Johnny Herbert criticises F1 rule he ‘never’ liked that thwarted Oscar Piastri at the Brazilian GP

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri watched his closest championship rival, Lando Norris, complete a perfect weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Lando Norris scored a maximum number of points at Interlagos, with Oscar Piastri ending up in the barriers in the Sprint Race before finishing fifth during the Grand Prix.

The drivers’ championship is not a foregone conclusion, but even three victories and a Sprint Race win might not be enough for Piastri to regain the lead in the standings.

Piastri struggled with his car set-up in Brazil and was at the centre of several talking points across the weekend.

The McLaren driver went three-wide into the first corner after the safety car restart, making contact with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who proceeded to hit Charles Leclerc, causing terminal damage to his Ferrari.

Johnny Herbert has now given his view on the incident, and admitted that during his time as an F1 steward, he ‘never’ liked having to use the current guidelines to decide who was at fault for any collision.

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Johnny Herbert disagrees with F1 guidelines that saw Oscar Piastri penalised at the Brazilian Grand Prix

Herbert was speaking about the Piastri incident on the Stay on Track Podcast and said: “When I did the stewarding, we had the guidelines, and the guidelines are what the team and the drivers sit down and discuss.

“So, it’s a guideline for overtaking or whatever it may be during the race. I never liked it because I thought, Why are we making up rules for racing when a driver, especially a Formula 1 driver, is the very best.

“Kimi launches, lights go out, away he goes, and you know within five meters if you got a good or bad start.

“Once you know it’s not quite as good as I thought because you can see he had seen Lando pull away, you look in your mirrors.

“You can’t see everything, but it gives you a very good idea. You know if they’ve suddenly got a good start, and actually Oscar had a good start, and so did Charles.

“So we can see him actually look. So he’s aware that Oscar’s actually making that move up the inside.

“And then when you get to just before the breaking point, there’s sort of not quite level, but I think he’s very close to that mirror. So Kimi is very aware that he’s doing it. Oscar’s aware that, right, I’ve got an opportunity at this one.

“So you’re always aware of what is going to be happening when you get to that apex or that corner. And this is another thing I don’t like about the guidelines as well, because the apex is not really the overtake. The overtake is done before you get there. That’s almost like a dive bomb to get to the apex. And I hate it where it’s it’s always fixed on the apex.”

Herbert goes on to say that Antonelli was ‘too tight’ going into the corner and didn’t give Piastri enough room, which ultimately caused the collision.

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Charles Leclerc’s take on Oscar Piastri’s penalty highlights that Formula 1 needs to review its rules

Leclerc refused to solely blame Piastri for the incident after the race, despite his chances of securing a much-needed podium in Brazil being ended by the crash.

The drivers regularly discuss the sport’s rules, and the latest iteration of needing to be in line with the other car’s front axle feels like a compromise that only works on certain occasions.

It could be argued that Antonelli also deserved some blame for Leclerc’s DNF, as he had more space to his right to allow Piastri to avoid a collision.

However, the stewards decided the Australian was solely at fault, helping Norris earn a considerable advantage in the drivers’ championship.

Whether there’s a perfect solution to this issue is another matter, but Herbert seems to think that Piastri was somewhat hard done by in a decision that could ultimately decide who wins the championship.