Revealed: Why F1 stewards issued Oscar Piastri harsh British GP penalty

The F1 stewards have explained why they opted to issue Oscar Piastri a severe 10-second time penalty at the British Grand Prix.

During a safety car restart at the Silverstone Circuit on Sunday, Piastri found himself at the head of the pack, having overtaken pole-sitter Max Verstappen earlier in the race.

As they prepared to go racing again, Piastri applied his brakes as they drove along the back straight, with Verstappen seemingly being caught out by the manoeuvre.

It resulted in a 10-second time penalty for the Australian, which cost him the lead to team-mate Lando Norris when they made their final pit stops.

A distraught Piastri did not offer much insight into the incident in his post-race interview, stating he would “get in trouble” if he voiced his true feelings.

While Piastri obviously expressed he didn't feel the penalty was fair, the stewards explained why it concluded the punishment was warranted.

“When the clerk of the course had declared that the safety car was coming in that lap and the lights were extinguished, Car 81 suddenly braked hard (59.2 psi of brake pressure) and reduced speed in the middle of the straight between T14 and T15, from 218 kph to 52 kph, resulting in Car 1 having to take evasive action to avoid a collision,” read a statement from the stewards.

“This momentarily resulted in Car 1 unavoidably overtaking Car 81, a position which he gave back immediately. 

“Article 55.15 of the FIA Sporting Regulations required Car 81 to proceed at a pace which involved no erratic braking nor any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers from the point at which the lights on the safety car are turned off. 

“What Car 81 did was clearly a breach of that article. 

“In accordance with the penalty guidelines, we imposed a 10-second time penalty to Car 81.”

As well as the 10-second time penalty, Piastri was also issued two points on his super licence - his sixth in the last 12 months.