After a thrilling and chaotic race at Silverstone, Lando Norris emerged as the winner in a result decided not on the track itself, but in the stewards’ room.

Oscar Piastri was handed a 10-second penalty for what was labelled as erratic braking at the second Safety Car period, at a point when the Safety Car’s lights had been switched off.

Were officials right to penalise Oscar Piastri?

As always, the telemetry data does not lie, so let’s dive in and see whether Oscar genuinely did anything wrong, and whether the penalty he received was truly justified.

The rain and constantly changing conditions on the track made the first part of the race incredibly chaotic, with all the drivers struggling simply to keep their cars on the circuit. We witnessed several drivers retire from the race, caught out by either the lack of grip or the poor visibility that came with the conditions.

Out of the 20 cars that started the race, five failed to make it to the chequered flag, and the numerous incidents meant that nearly the first half of the race was spent either under the Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car.

During all of this, Piastri, Max Verstappen and Norris managed to maintain their positions, and in the periods when racing resumed, they gave us some brilliant on-track action. That was the case until lap 21 when the key moment, the one that effectively decided the winner, unfolded in just a matter of seconds.

The controversial incident that led to Piastri’s penalty came when he braked sharply ahead of Turn 15, Stowe. This occurred while the Safety Car was still on track but had already turned off its lights, signalling the impending restart. But what exactly happened?

At that point, heavy rain had forced race control to deploy the Safety Car in the first place, ensuring driver safety until the conditions improved. Yes, teams do have full wet tyres available for use, but that’s another debate entirely.

After a few laps, the weather began to improve, and on lap 21, just after Turn 14 (Chapel), drivers were informed that the Safety Car would come in at the end of that lap. The usual procedure followed; the Safety Car’s lights were switched off, giving the race leader control over the pace and allowing him to slow the pack down, create a gap, and then accelerate when he chose to restart the race.

What we saw on the broadcast was that, after the lights went out, Piastri braked hard enough to cause Verstappen to move ahead of him, which of course isn’t allowed.

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As Piastri accelerated to the restart, Max lost control of his car. Shortly after, word came through that Piastri had been given a 10-second penalty for “erratic braking on the straight before T15”. At that point, it was already clear that unless something unexpected happened, Norris was heading for the win.

Afterwards, Piastri said in interviews that his driving during the second Safety Car restart had been exactly the same as during the first. So what does the telemetry say — was Oscar telling the truth?

The short answer is yes, Oscar was right. When we compare the telemetry data from Lap 17 (the end of the first Safety Car period) with that from Lap 21 (the end of the second), the evidence is clear.

The two graphs above highlight key moments in both laps: when Piastri accelerated, when he braked, and the speed he was carrying before braking.

When you examine these data points, you can see that his actions were virtually identical in both cases. Oscar spent the same amount of time on the brakes, and more importantly, his speed just before braking was almost exactly the same in both situations. The rate at which his speed dropped was also very similar. 

On Lap 17, Piastri slowed from 208 km/h to 50 km/h over approximately 160 metres. By contrast, during Lap 21 — the lap for which he received the penalty — he decelerated from 217 km/h to 52 km/h over a distance of roughly 140 metres.

The only real difference? Verstappen’s speed at that moment.

Max’s telemetry shows that during the second restart, Max was travelling significantly faster at the point when Oscar started braking compared to the first restart. On top of that, it’s clear that Max reacted later the second time around. Although the track conditions were largely the same, perhaps on Lap 21 Max didn’t have as clear a view of Piastri ahead of him, and so he reacted later — which briefly put him ahead.

If we look at this purely from Oscar’s perspective, there was no clear reason for a penalty. He did exactly what he had done before: once he saw the Safety Car lights go out, he applied the brakes to create space in front of him before accelerating for the restart.

What changed in this scenario was the driver behind — in this case Max, who found himself closer to a potential incident. Whether that fact, or perhaps Max losing control of his car immediately after the restart, influenced the stewards’ decision is something we simply can’t know.

In the end, the penalty was applied, and Oscar Piastri crossed the line in second place, while his team-mate — and main rival in the title race — won the British GP was able to close the gap in the championship standings.

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