Why Oscar Piastri was penalised for three-way Brazil F1 crash

The FIA stewards have explained why Oscar Piastri was held responsible for a three-way crash at the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Piastri was handed a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who in turn was punted into the side of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, at the Safety Car restart on Lap 6.

McLaren’s Piastri was running fourth at the time he attempted to gain early ground, but locked up as he lunged down the inside of Antonelli.

Piastri did move into second place with Antonelli running wide and Leclerc suffering race-ending damage to his SF-25, but would cross the line fifth after serving a costly time penalty during his first pit stop.

The Australian has subsequently fallen 24 points behind McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris, who secured his second consecutive victory and seventh win of the season.

FIA stewards explain verdict

The stewards determined that Piastri, who also received two penalty points on his licence, was fully to blame for the incident.

Piastri was judged to have not been far enough alongside Antonelli to claim the corner, while it was also noted that he locked up and wasn’t in full control of his car.

"At the safety car restart on Lap 6, Car 81 (Oscar Piastri) attempted to overtake Car 12 (Kimi Antonelli) on the inside of Turn 1," the stewards stated.

”In doing so, PIA 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.

"PIA locked the brakes as he attempted to avoid contact by slowing, but was unable to do so and made contact with ANT. This contact caused ANT to make secondary contact with Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), who was positioned on the outside and was forced to retire from the race as a result.

"PIA was therefore wholly responsible for the collision. A 10-second time penalty and 2 penalty points are considered appropriate and consistent with recent precedents."

Piastri pleaded innocence, insisting he could not simply "disappear". 

"I had a very clear opportunity, I went for it," he told Sky Sports F1. 

"The other two on the outside braked quite late. There was obviously a bit of a lock-up into the corner but that's because I could see Kimi was not going to give me any space.

"I can't disappear but the decision is what it is."