Ted Kravitz fears F1 could soon have a viewership ‘problem’ after Oscar Piastri’s Brazil penalty

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Oscar Piastri received a contentious 10-second penalty for a collision with Kimi Antonelli at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The incident led to Charles Leclerc’s retirement and could be a decisive moment in the title race.

Piastri saw an opportunity to pass Antonelli at the early safety-car restart, leading to the three-abreast moment at turn one. The FIA’s official document explained that the Australian ‘did not establish the required overlap prior to and at the apex’.

Piastri was given two penalty points but the 10-second delay at his first pit stop was more significant, turning a likely second place into fifth. He lost 23 points to teammate and race winner Lando Norris over the weekend.

Jolyon Palmer says Piastri’s penalty ‘didn’t feel right’, suggesting that the manoeuvre was judged on the dramatic outcome rather than its merits. Manager Mark Webber expected the stewards to be more lenient given that it was a race restart.

Ted Kravitz says F1 officiating could ‘turn people off’ after Oscar Piastri penalty

Speaking on Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast, Ted Kravitz said the ruling could dissuade drivers from attempting overtakes. And if they do become more cautious, it’s likely to hurt the spectacle.

Kravitz felt this was the ‘definition of a racing incident, and suggested the sport could alienate fans by being overly strict with marginal overtakes.

He said: “It’s going to put enough doubt in the driver’s mind as to whether to go for something that might be a 50/50 – I don’t think it was a 50/50, I think it was a definite pass from Piastri.

“Are they going to go for it? If they’re not going to go for it, then we’ve got a problem, then that’s going to turn people off. It was the definition of a racing incident.”

Kravitz’s colleague, Simon Lazenby, took a different view. Based on the data traces, he thinks Piastri could have ‘taken control’ of the corner simply by braking later.

“I’ve looked at a couple of traces,” he said. “If he had braked later, at the same time as Kimi Antonelli and as hard as that, maybe actually he would have been a different decision, and he would have been far enough alongside to have taken control of that corner, and perhaps he wouldn’t have locked up in the way that he did.”

Did Andrea Stella hint that he wasn’t impressed with Oscar Piastri’s move?

Speaking to Sky just after the race, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “We need to look at the execution of the weekend because crashing in the Sprint, today with the penalty. We also need to review if there was something more we could have done with the strategy to help Oscar.”

Kravitz read this as a hint that Stella wasn’t completely happy with his driver. The Italian later called the verdict ‘harsh’, but McLaren haven’t appealed.

The Sky analyst said: “I thought it was interesting that Andrea Stella mentioned the penalty in terms of ‘we have to work with Oscar about his execution’, so maybe Andrea Stella – quite a hard taskmaster, I think it’s fair to say – is saying, ‘Look Oscar, maybe don’t get yourself in that situation.'”

Piastri now has six penalty points – halfway to a race ban – but he will shed two of these on 8 December.