Max Verstappen suggests F1 rival should 'contact FIA' over controversial penalty

Oscar Piastri’s penalty at the Brazilian Grand Prix has been addressed by his F1 rival and reigning champion Max Verstappen.

The Australian driver was awarded a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points in Sao Paulo, after an attempted overtake on Kimi Antonelli on the safety car restart resulted in contact.

Antonelli’s Mercedes then ricocheted into Charles Leclerc, whose Ferrari subsequently received damage and was forced to retire from the Brazilian GP.

The stewards decided that Piastri was wholly responsible for the collision; but the severity of the penalty has prompted criticism from rival F1 drivers such as Carlos Sainz.

Speaking to the media in Las Vegas, Sainz said: “I think we need urgently a catch-up and try and solve it, because for me the fact that Oscar got a penalty there in Brazil is unacceptable, honestly, for the category that we are in and being the pinnacle of motorsport.

"Everyone that's seen racing knows that that is not Oscar's fault at all, and everyone that's really raced a race car knows he could have done nothing to avoid an accident there and he got away with a 10-second penalty.

"For me it's something that I don't understand. I didn't understand my Zandvoort penalty, I didn't understand why Ollie [Bearman] got a penalty when we both collided in Monza.

"So there's been not one but multiple incidents this year that for me are far from where the sport should be."

Verstappen weighs in on Piastri penalty

The penalty has hindered Piastri’s title chances as he enters the Las Vegas GP weekend 24 points behind team-mate Lando Norris, with just three rounds remaining.

Speaking to the Dutch media in Las Vegas, Verstappen claimed that Red Bull would have been more vocal about the penalty if he had been slapped with a similar punishment, and suggested if Piastri has a problem he should talk to the FIA about it.

“Yeah, I don’t know why they handled it like that,” Verstappen said.

“In the end, you can be angry about it, but the penalty will still stand anyway. You just have to live with it. If you have a problem with that, then you need to contact the stewards or the FIA and maybe you can talk about it for the future.”

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