Oscar Piastri hit with 10-second penalty for Safety Car breach

Oscar Piastri was handed a 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement at the F1 British Grand Prix.

Piastri was leading the Silverstone race but his hopes of winning the F1 British Grand Prix suffered a huge blow when he was penalised. 

He was 3.8 seconds ahead of eventual winner Lando Norris when he was punished.

The Australian was penalised for driving too slowly behind the Safety Car, causing Max Verstappen to momentarily pass the McLaren driver on the Hangar Straight as the field prepared to restart. 

The FIA explained: "The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence. 

"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. 

"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."

Norris took the lead when Piastri pitted on Lap 44, and converted his advantage into a grand prix win.

It represented a victory for a British driver on home turf, where Lewis Hamilton has previously made history for his dominance. Hamilton's run of 12 podiums in a row at Silverstone ended amid Norris' win.

Norris' win was McLaren's first at Silverstone since Hamilton won in 2008.

Meanwhile, Verstappen spun coming out of Stowe and dropped down the order to P10. He finished fifth.

Piastri's time penalty had major ramifications for the drivers' championship.

He entered the British Grand Prix as the championship leader. He stills leads, but his lead from Norris has been cut to eight points.