Helmut Marko demands F1 stewards consistency after Silverstone 'shock'

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has demanded "more consistency" from the F1 stewards, following Oscar Piastri's "shock" British Grand Prix penalty. 

The championship leader was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for 'erratic braking', ahead of restarting the race at Silverstone following a second safety car period.

It cost Piastri victory, which instead went to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. Max Verstappen had been in the fight for the win, until he suffered a half-spin at the same restart which saw Piastri penalised.

The punishment infuriated Piastri, who showed rare emotion during the post-race parc ferme interviews ahead of going onto the podium for finishing second. 

It was judged by the stewards that he applied the brakes at 60 psi of pressure, double what George Russell did in a similar incident in Canada. 

Whilst Marko did not disagree with Piastri's penalty, he has called for consistency over incidents of a similar nature.

"A shock at Silverstone: the 10-second penalty for Piastri," Marko wrote in his Speedweek column. "It's not the first time we've seen such a hairy scene behind the safety car. 

"I think the penalty was okay in terms of the context, but we wish the race stewards had a bit more consistency in their judgment.

"The fans say that a similar situation involving Russell in Canada wasn't worthy of a penalty, but Piastri's in England was. They don't understand that, and quite honestly, neither do we.

"So ultimately, 5th place went to Max at Silverstone, just a week before the early retirement in Austria due to being hit by Antonelli. This doesn't make it any easier for Verstappen to defend his title, but we're far from writing off the title."