Oscar Piastri admitted it would have been unfair to Lando Norris if McLaren had allowed him to regain the lead after receiving a penalty, which would have potentially cost Norris the British Grand Prix victory by swapping positions back.
The championship leader, Piastri, was visibly upset by the 10-second penalty imposed by stewards for an incident before the lap 22 Safety Car restart, deeming his braking in front of Max Verstappen on the Hangar Straight too abrupt.
Piastri had to serve the penalty during his subsequent pit stop. When he came in for slick tyres, he was only two seconds ahead of Norris. The 10-second penalty had to be observed in the pit box before the team could service his car.
Norris inherited the lead and maintained it after his own pit stop for slicks on the following lap.
McLaren also expressed dissatisfaction with the stewards` ruling; Team Principal Andrea Stella later described it as `very harsh`. With seven laps remaining, Piastri inquired via team radio if the team would consider reversing positions with Norris, should they also deem the penalty unfair.
Three laps later, Piastri`s race engineer responded, confirming that no team orders would be issued.
Speaking in the post-race press conference, Piastri acknowledged that, despite his lingering frustration over the penalty that likely cost him a victory in his close championship battle with Norris, reversing positions would not have been appropriate.
“I thought I would ask the question,” Piastri stated. “I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked. But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn`t going to happen.”
“I don`t think there was anything wrong with it,” he added. “Lando didn`t do anything wrong. I don`t think it would have been particularly fair to have swapped, but I thought I would at least ask.”
McLaren Welcomed Piastri`s Swap Request Despite Not Granting It
Team Principal Andrea Stella explained that the team`s philosophy of encouraging openness meant they had no issue with Piastri making the request to swap positions.
While the team ultimately decided not to approve the request after discussion on the pit wall, Stella mentioned they initially allowed Piastri to stay ahead on track because another Safety Car period could have potentially enabled him to retain the lead regardless of the penalty.
“As a team and with Lando and Oscar, we always tell our drivers, `don’t keep things in the back of your mind when you drive`,” Stella quoted the team`s principle. “If you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want to let us know what you are thinking, just say it. Then we will evaluate it on the pit wall, make a decision, and come back to you.”
“Oscar did exactly what we encourage our drivers to do,” Stella stated. “He communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated.”
“The way we handled the situation today, considering the penalty, was to allow Oscar to retain the lead in case a Safety Car occurred, despite the penalty. If there was a Safety Car, both cars would have pitted [at the same time], Oscar would have served the penalty, Lando would have waited, and the two McLarens would have exited the pit lane together.”
“But at the point where we needed to transition to dry tyres, the penalty had already been applied, and at that stage, we decided to simply retain the natural order on track. So I think this was fair for both, and I`m sure Oscar will understand and agree with this point of view.”
