Max Verstappen forced F1 rule to be ‘rewritten’ in 2021 which cost Oscar Piastri victory at the British Grand Prix

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There was a moment this season when it looked like McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and Red Bull star Max Verstappen might be battling it out for the championship.

Although Oscar Piastri’s closest rival in the drivers’ championship has always been McLaren teammate Lando Norris, there was a moment when it looked like the British driver was feeling the pressure.

Norris crashed out in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, leaving Max Verstappen and Piastri to battle it out at the front.

The Australian eventually came out on top, but if Verstappen had won, he would have taken the lead in the championship.

Since that moment, Red Bull have fallen away and look to be out of contention in both championships, but that hasn’t stopped Verstappen from influencing what happens between both McLaren drivers.

The four-time world champion won at Imola, held up Norris in Miami, and beat both drivers in Canada.

However, he was also at the centre of Piastri losing his cool at Silverstone, but that’s not the only reason why Verstappen was influential in the result of the British Grand Prix.

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Max Verstappen rule change influenced Oscar Piastri’s British Grand Prix safety car penalty

The decisive moment in the race at Silverstone was Piastri being handed a ten-second penalty for a safety car infringement, which handed victory to Norris.

He had previously built up a huge lead, but was unable to make up the deficit after his prolonged pit stop.

Journalist Diego Mejia was speaking on the Pit Pass Podcast about the incident and explained: “I think this is because of Max. If you see the race director’s notes, since 2021, they have included a drawing that explains to the drivers what they can do in terms of positioning the car at the lead of the pack.

“You can’t be side-by-side at the time of the restart. Basically, you cannot do what Max used to do up until Abu Dhabi 2021, because that’s exactly what he did.

“I understand Oscar used all his weapons to try and keep Max behind, although I feel like had Max overtaken him, he would have overtaken him back because at that moment, he was just so much quicker than anybody.

“Not only Max but also Lando, he was basically controlling the race, and he was at a pace that nobody else was able to be at when the track was still damp and everybody was on intermediates.

“I think this is another episode of Formula 1 when rules have to be rewritten because of something that Max Verstappen did.”

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Oscar Piastri’s British Grand Prix penalty has split opinion in Formula 1

Verstappen’s behaviour behind the safety car at the infamous Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 led to several changes in the sport, but Piastri fell foul of how closely a driver’s behaviour is studied behind the safety car.

He braked far harder than George Russell at the previous race in Canada, and Nico Hulkenberg explained to him in the cooldown room after the race how close he was to causing a collision further back down the grid.

However, that’s not to say that the decision was universally accepted in the paddock.

Verstappen’s camp were surprised by Piastri’s penalty, according to a report from Auto Motor und Sport, as they didn’t believe it was consistent with previous rulings.

Peter Windsor criticised the FIA for the decision to hand Piastri a penalty, calling the decision ‘ludicrous’.

Former world champion Jenson Button praised Piastri’s radio message which he asked McLaren to reverse his position with Norris if they didn’t believe the penalty was fair.

It was a canny tactic, but never likely to work, with the gap between the top drivers down to eight points.