‘Most’ of the F1 paddock disagree with Kimi Antonelli over Oscar Piastri’s Brazil penalty

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Oscar Piastri comes into the Las Vegas Grand Prix off the back of a torrid run of form, with a penalty in Sao Paulo pulling him further away from the title race.

The McLaren star came into the Brazilian Grand Prix having not scored a podium in five races. That streak extended to six as he suffered a disappointing weekend.

Piastri crashed out in the Sprint race before finishing fifth on Sunday. He looked on course for a podium, but he landed himself in trouble with the stewards after a collision with Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc after the safety car restart.

The Aussie lunged into turn one on Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver shut the door and the two collided. The Italian was sent into the path of Leclerc, who was taken out of the race.

Leclerc felt Piastri and Antonelli had to take responsibility for the accident, but it was the former who was hit with a 10-second time penalty, ultimately dropping him to P5.

‘Most’ in the F1 paddock think Oscar Piastri’s penalty in Brazil was ‘harsh’

The incident is still being heavily scrutinised two weeks on in Las Vegas. Carlos Sainz slammed Piastri’s penalty as ‘unacceptable’, stating that the Aussie is not at fault for the crash.

According to journalist and F1 commentator Harry Benjamin, ‘most’ people in the paddock agree that Piastri’s penalty was ‘harsh’.

He said on the Chequered Flag podcast: “Piastri’s got to be bold now with every single race, because he is on the back foot. There’s three rounds to go and he’s kind of in that position now where he hasn’t got anything to lose.

“He can win everything and still lose at the end of this season. And that move on Kimi Antonelli into turn one in Sao Paulo was bold and it was from quite a way back.

“He was obviously penalised for it and we can discuss the ins and outs of that and the driver guidelines, and I think, on the whole, most of the paddock is in agreement that that was pretty harsh and unfair.

“But it showcased that he is willing to put that car in a compromised position to get a better result.”

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Kimi Antonelli insists Oscar Piastri’s penalty in Brazil was ‘fair’

Antonelli went on to record his best F1 finish to date as he came home P2 in Sao Paulo. He managed to avoid damage in the collision with Piastri and Leclerc and fended off a charging Max Verstappen to claim his second podium of 2025.

Speaking to the media via Autosport in Las Vegas, the Mercedes driver stated that Piastri’s penalty was ‘fair’ due to what is written in the guidelines.

“In the braking, I didn’t even see him anymore because he braked so much earlier than me,” he said. “But then he locked up and, obviously, I closed a bit the corner and we collided. I think it was an unlucky situation.

“But if we stand by the guidelines, the penalty is fair because it wasn’t at my mirror, at the level of my mirror. And that’s how it is, of course.

“Maybe it can be a bit unfair, maybe it was a racing incident because the situation was tricky. But the rules are these and that’s why in Qatar we will discuss about it for the future to try to make it better.”