Oscar Piastri chose his words carefully after the 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix as a time penalty denied him victory.
The McLaren driver admitted he was keen not to “get myself in trouble” as he reflected on the controversial moment that decided the race.
Max Verstappen led from pole position at Silverstone, but Piastri soon made his way past as the Dutchman ran wide onto the Hangar Straight.
Leading in the ever-changing weather conditions, which saw heavy rainfall causing chaos on track, Piastri led multiple Safety Car restarts.
After an incident between Isack Hadjar and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Piastri prepared himself for another restart, but suddenly slammed on the brakes, with Verstappen moving swiftly to the side to avoid the McLaren car.
The stewards handed him a 10-second time penalty for the infringement, citing “erratic braking on the straight before T15 when the Safety Car lights were extinguished”.
After the race, in parc ferme, Piastri made his emotions clear whilst stopping himself from saying something that he would regret.
“Yeah, I’m not going to say much,” he said. “I’ll get myself in trouble.
“Well done to Nico [Hulkenberg] – I think that’s the highlight of the day, so yeah, I’ll live with it.”
Asked to further expand his thoughts on the matter, he added: “Yeah, I mean, apparently you can’t brake behind the Safety Car anymore.
“I mean, I did it for five laps before that, again, I’m not going to say too much, because I’ll get myself in trouble, but thanks to the crowd for a great event.
“Thanks for sticking through the weather – I still like Silverstone, even if I don’t like it today, so thanks for coming out, everyone.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in British GP, Nico Hulkenberg takes maiden F1 podium
Oscars penalty was a disgrace, they were just insuring Landos win, Oscar overtook Max and led most of the race to lose by less than 10 seconds.
I`m no Norris fan, but the penalty given to Piastri was deserved, there`s slowing the pack up, and then there`s coming to a practical stop which was dangerous. It was his race to lose .
… that Max Verstappen character’s showing marked improvement, setting up fellow drivers for penalties! Darned near got Russell in Canada! Next up in his crosshairs, Piastri at Silverstone! Verstappen shot him down, like a real ace!
Tripping up Piastri, like they tried to do, Russell, my thoughts are, whacked-out Red Bull people set this whole thing up. No longer contenders, more focused preventing others from winning than they are, optimizing their hopeless wayward cars, Red Bull people are left thumb twiddling, playing politics.
always with the little games, definitely within Red Bull’s better interest, stoking intra-team resentment there, at McLaren, setting up Piastri for a penalty’s just the kind of stunt the Red Bull people would pull
Verstappen knows he’s in a free-fall, that 2025’s a foregone conclusion. He’s frustrated. He’s angry. And, this is how he’s hitting out, taking down anyone he can.
So, the only thing a driver has to do to set up a competitor for a penalty is, time a torque spike the moment the car directly ahead bears down, bringing brakes up to temp?
The real troublemaker, perpetrator in all these shenanigans, Mad Max beyond Toro Rosso! Verstappen’s the one they ought to be penalizing!
Red Bull’s fingerprints, all over this thing. No longer a contender, my sense of this, the Red Bull people having written off the remainder of 2025, have dedicated themselves to notching their holsters pulling stunts, being as disruptive to the other teams as humanly possible. Indicative of that little stunt the Red Bull people pulled in Canada, this time around they’ve manipulated circumstance for a take-down, on Oscar Piastri.
What I can’t figure, why Piastri, why not Russell? Makes no sense. Either these F1 stewards are biased, or they’re brain dead. If stewards didn’t penalize Russell in Canada, how do they hope to extend precedent, for taking down Piastri?
What’s peculiar to me about this whole thing, that the McLaren people weren’t screaming bloody murder? Leveling protests? Appeals? In contrast to the Mercedes people, steeped in abject indignation at Canada, the McLaren people seemed inwardly pleased, inwardly giddy Norris was let through on a technicality, to score at his home race. Something about this thing stinks.
The issue isn’t really about Piastri. the issue is, an inwardly angry, spiteful, resentful, vindictive, green-eyed jealous Verstappen, raging deep inside, becoming evermore a danger to his fellow competitors.