Was the Oscar Piastri penalty at the British GP too harsh?

Oscar Piastri lost what appeared to be a near-certain British Grand Prix victory when the stewards awarded him a 10-second time penalty for driving erratically behind the safety car.

The Australian looked comfortably in control of the race at Silverstone and, despite the safety car eradicating his advantage over Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, he was showing enough pace in hand to extend his F1 drivers' championship advantage.

However, it is his McLaren team-mate who inherited the lead and a home victory, trimming the deficit to just eight points in the standings. But was the stewards' intervention too harsh on Piastri?

The safety car was called in late by the clerk of the course at the end of lap 21 of 52, with the 24-year-old quickly responding to suddenly being the de facto pace car by braking.

It seemingly caught Verstappen off guard, who passed the seven-time grand prix winner, immediately getting onto team radio about it.

McLaren felt the Dutchman's actions were perhaps overstated, making more out of the incident than necessary and potentially prompting the stewards to look at it.

Nonetheless, the officials investigated Piastri for a safety car infringement and subsequently found him guilty.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the circumstances being different from the George Russell-Verstappen situation at the Canadian Grand Prix, the McLaren driver's braking event was almost double that of the Mercedes driver.

McLaren engaged in conversations with race control about the punishment during the grand prix, but Piastri ultimately served his penalty.

Afterwards, the 2021 F2 champion even enquired about McLaren switching him and Norris back around, seeing as the team deemed it an unfair call. 

The Woking squad, unsurprisingly, did not go for that offer. However, the outcome of the swift arm of the law has been questioned - by the team, other drivers, including Verstappen, and fans alike in the aftermath of the race.

Do you think the penalty handed down to Piastri at the British Grand Prix was too harsh? Let us know in the comments section and by voting below in the latest poll by RacingNews365.