Max Verstappen had to settle for fifth place during the British Grand Prix. The Dutchman started from pole position, but struggled with the handling of his RB21 under wet conditions. After a safety car, he suddenly found himself behind rival Oscar Piastri, who seemingly deliberately braked to impose a penalty on Verstappen. The Australian denied guilt, but – to Verstappen’s great surprise – still received a hefty time penalty.
Verstappen maintained the lead at the start, despite Piastri getting off to a particularly good start. However, his intermediates wore out considerably faster than those of the McLaren driver, causing him to be overtaken quickly. Behind the second safety car, he was still in second place, ahead of home hero Lando Norris. However, Piastri braked so abruptly that Verstappen passed him – something strictly forbidden during a safety car situation.
Strange Penalty
The Australian received – to everyone’s surprise – a 10-second time penalty for the incident, which ultimately cost him the victory at Silverstone. Verstappen was also surprised by the heavy penalty for Piastri. “I only heard after the race that he had received a 10-second time penalty; no one had told me,” he explained to the press at Silverstone. “That’s quite extreme. But well, I don’t make the rules. You know what, this has happened to me often enough. I just find it strange that he now does get a penalty.”
The incident brings to mind the recent Grand Prix of Canada, where Verstappen was following race leader George Russell during a safety car situation. At that time, it also seemed like the British driver deliberately hit the brakes to provoke a penalty for the Dutchman. However, Russell got away with just a warning. Red Bull, which was hoping for a victory in Montreal, filed a protest in vain.
The incident between Verstappen and Piastri is reminiscent of the squabble between Verstappen and Russell during the Grand Prix of Canada.
