Oscar Piastri says he'll fuel his F1 title charge with ‘frustration' at race-deciding penalty
Piastri was reluctant to join in the celebrations for McLaren's fourth one-two finish of 2025 after a 10-second penalty imposed for sharp braking behind the safety car meant he finished behind teammate and title rival Lando Norris in Sunday's race. He leads Norris by eight points at the halfway point of the season.
McLaren rejected Piastri's request over the radio for the team to cancel out the effect of the penalty by asking the drivers to swap places. It would have put the Australian driver back into the lead and potentially deprived Norris of an emotional first home win.
'Lando didn't do anything wrong, so I don't think it would have been particularly fair to have swapped, but I thought I'd at least ask,' Piastri said Sunday.
'It doesn't change much for the championship. I feel like I did a good job today. I did what I needed to. That's all I need, and I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.'
McLaren's dilemma
Piastri added that he 'knew what the answer was going to be' before he messaged the team, but was searching for 'a small glimmer of hope.'
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the only way that Piastri would have stayed in front on Sunday would have been if the safety car came out and both McLarens stopped for fresh tires. In that event, Norris would have waited behind Piastri.
'Oscar is a very fast, very strong, very determined driver. He proved that,' Stella added. 'It didn't lead to a win, but I'm sure it will lead to many more wins.'
It isn't the first time McLaren has had to deal with an awkward radio situation. Piastri's first career win at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year came when the team
ordered a swap
with Norris because of pit strategy. Norris only obeyed after a lengthy wait.
Inconsistent penalties
Once again, F1 is debating whether the rules are enforced consistently.
Piastri argued that slowing up the field before a restart is 'well within the rules,' a tactic he'd used earlier in the same race without incident. 'I don't really get it,' he said.
The stewards ruled that slowing from more than 135mph to 32mph was 'erratic braking' and it forced Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was second behind Piastri at the time, to take evasive action.
That left Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reviving his complaint that Mercedes' George Russell had deserved a penalty for slowing behind the safety car at the
Canadian Grand Prix
last month. On that occasion, Russell braked and Verstappen, who was second, briefly overtook as he was caught unawares.
Russell went on to win, with Verstappen finishing second. Red Bull's post-race protest interrupted Mercedes' victory celebrations and further strained the relationship between the teams.
'I wasn't surprised to see him get a penalty. That was what you would expect,' Horner said of Piastri's penalty. 'It was probably more surprising that George didn't get one in Montreal, to be honest with you.'
Piastri, too, suggested punishing one incident but not the other seemed inconsistent.
'Going back to Canada, I think you had to evade more there than you did today,' Piastri said. 'So I'm a bit confused, to say the least.'
___
AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.
___
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https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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