F1 stewards issue statement on divisive Oscar Piastri penalty as Charles Leclerc disagrees

The Formula 1 stewards have explained why they believe Oscar Piastri was "wholly responsible" for the crash which forced Charles Leclerc to retire from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. However, even the Ferrari driver himself has questioned the decision to penalise his McLaren rival.

It happened after a safety car restart early in the race. Leader Lando Norris was untroubled heading into the first corner because second-placed Kimi Antonelli found himself under attack from two rivals. Leclerc tried to go around the outside of the Mercedes driver, while Piastri attempted a move up the inside.

Piastri locked a wheel as he braked harder, having noticed that Antonelli was coming across the track to make the corner which was squeezing the amount of room the Aussie had. The end result was he hit into the side of the Mercedes, which in turn cannoned into the Ferrari to its right which punctured and ripped off the front-left tyre of Leclerc's car.

The Monegasque ended up having to pull over and retire from the race, while the stewards decided Piastri's actions were worthy of a 10-second time penalty which contributed to him finishing fifth, while Antonelli came home second. Explaining their decision after the race, the stewards pointed to the driving standards guidelines.

They said: "Piastri did not establish the required overlap prior to and at the apex, as his front axle was not alongside the mirror of Car 12, as defined in the Driving Standard Guidelines for overtaking on the inside of a corner. Piastri locked the brakes as he attempted to avoid contact by slowing, but was unable to do so and made contact with Antonelli.

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"This contact caused Antonelli to make secondary contact with Leclerc, who was positioned on the outside and was forced to retire from the race as a result. Piastri was therefore wholly responsible for the collision. A 10-second time penalty and two penalty points are considered appropriate and consistent with recent precedents."

Piastri claimed he had "a very clear opportunity" to overtake and complained: "I couldn't go any further left and I can't just disappear." And Leclerc had sympathy for his rival as he questioned the stewards' verdict. He said: "I do agree we have a rule book and I think the stewards are always trying to do their best to look at the rule book and to try and understand who is the one to blame.

"In this case, I really think Kimi knew and was aware that Oscar was on the inside. Yes, he was not side-by-side, which is the way it's written in the rulebook, but you cannot really do a corner like nobody is in the inside if someone is on the inside no matter how far he is.

"So, for me, it's a bit more of a 50-50 blame with Kimi and Oscar. I don't think Oscar deserved all the blame there. Anyway, that doesn't matter, for me it is the end of the race which is very frustrating."