Piastri defends move on Antonelli after penalty: “I was clearly alongside”

Oscar Piastri defended his attempt to overtake Andrea Kimi Antonelli after the stewards ruled he was “wholly responsible” for the collision.

They issued the McLaren driver a 10-second time penalty for the contact, which sent Antonelli into the side of Charles Leclerc, causing race-ending damage to the Ferrari.

Piastri was attempting to overtake Antonelli on the inside of the Senna S following a Safety Car restart. He pointed out his car was side-by-side with the Mercedes as they approached the corner.

“I was clearly alongside when we hit the brakes,” Piastri told Viaplay. “So I was clearly there at some point. Everyone went quite deep and I didn’t get given much space.”

F1’s stewarding guidelines state a driver overtaking on the inside must “have [their] front axle at least alongside the mirror of the other car prior to and at the apex” and their car should “be driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex, and not have ‘dived in’.”

The McLaren driver said he had his car under control despite locking a wheel as he entered the turn. “I got a really good restart and then went up the inside, had a bit of a lock-up but I was still in control and stayed on the inside white line,” he said. “I can’t disappear so I don’t really know where I was expected to go.”

The stewards ruled 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[s] Guidelines for overtaking on the inside of a corner.” They also noted he “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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The Mercedes driver explained why Antonelli and Leclerc gained on him at the restart and said he had limited visibility of Piastri’s car on his inside when they made contact.

“I accelerated a little bit on the wet patch so I got wheelspin and lost momentum going into turn one,” said Antonelli. “But to be fair, I found myself in a very difficult position because I had one car on the outside and one car on the inside.

“I tried to brake late, not too late. The problem is I didn’t see the car next to me anymore. I still tried to do a decent line for the position I was in. And I ended up getting hit. I was lucky to come away like that, because obviously I hit Charles quite hard.”

Leclerc said Piastri did not deserve all the blame for the collision.

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