Oscar Piastri slammed for one ‘really ridiculous’ action beyond his ‘very stupid’ British Grand Prix penalty

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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri looked set to win the 2025 British Grand Prix until his penalty for a safety car restart incident gifted glory at Silverstone to teammate Lando Norris.

The papaya pals were in a class of their own in the wet-dry-wet-dry conditions at Silverstone on Sunday. But Piastri was also in a class of his own compared to Norris throughout much of the British GP, with the Australian mastering the conditions at the Northamptonshire circuit.

However, one incident ultimately decided the outcome of the event as Piastri received a 10-second penalty for a safety car restart incident in the British GP. The stewards took issue as the 24-year-old braked from 218-52kph (135-32mph) with 59.2psi on the Hangar Straight.

Norris won the British GP thanks to Piastri’s time penalty, with the 25-year-old inheriting the lead of his home race after his teammate’s last pit stop. The Bristol-born ace would not have caught the Melbourne native without a penalty, given Norris lacked Piastri’s pace in the wet.

Oscar Piastri slammed for his ‘ridiculous’ request to swap positions with Lando Norris to win the British GP

Piastri was leading Norris and the British GP by 13.565s prior to the first safety car period on Lap 14 of 52 owing to the amount of standing water. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar driving into the rear of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes on L18 also meant the safety car returned.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Race control then left it late to elect to resume the British GP on L21, with Piastri already on the Hangar Straight as the safety car lights went out. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen driving past Piastri during the safety car restart phase also made the McLaren ace’s braking seem worse.

But Mike Hezemans believes Piastri only has himself to blame given Red Bull unsuccessfully protested George Russell’s Canadian GP win after a similar safety car restart. Yet Hezemans does question the penalty given to Piastri, who finished the British GP 6.812s behind Norris.

He told RacingNews365: “That’s always the question, what kind of punishment do you give for it? I think he just made a mistake. And it’s actually stupid because it’s happened a few times now. It also happened in Canada, so you know they pay attention to that.

“I think it’s very stupid of Piastri to do it like that… But then I think it’s even more stupid. I find it very difficult to determine what you should give then. I expected five seconds. That’s what I expected, because for that kind of thing they often give five seconds.”

But what Hezemans really took issue with at Silverstone was Piastri asking McLaren to swap his and Norris’ positions for the lead of the 2025 British GP if the Woking squad agreed with the Australian that his penalty for the safety car restart was not fair having cost him the win.

“What I found really ridiculous, and also a bit weak, was the radio from Piastri to the team,” Hezemans added. “Come on. I understand it because, of course, you try everything.

“But I thought it was a bit of a sign of weakness. Just try to drive away those 10 seconds and then do everything. It is what it is.”

Oscar Piastri ‘knew’ McLaren would not agree with his team orders request at Silverstone

Piastri asked his race engineer Tom Stallard if McLaren would consider changing the order of their cars in the lead of the British GP after serving his time penalty at Silverstone on Sunday and falling to 5.851s behind Norris. But he ‘knew’ McLaren would not consider honouring it.

“I thought I would ask the question,” Piastri outlined, via RaceFans. “I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked. I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

It would have been an extremely questionable decision if McLaren had elected to ask Norris to give the lead of the British GP back to Piastri upon inheriting the lead of his home race on L45. Even if McLaren agreed with Piastri that the penalty was unfair, Norris did not create it.

McLaren had not won their home race since Lewis Hamilton’s masterful performance in the rain back in 2008, either. So, with the win in the bag with Norris 5.851s ahead of Piastri, who even led Nico Hulkenberg in third by 23.199s, McLaren were not going to jeopardise a win.