Aussie Formula One fans have been left fuming at McLaren team bosses, claiming that the team do not ‘give a single f***’ about Oscar Piastri in the wake of his disastrous weekend in Brazil.
Piastri’s race unravelled in the sixth lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, with the Australian being slapped with a 10-second time penalty by racing stewards for appearing to make contact with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, in a crash that ruled Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc out of the race.
It was a harsh penalty for the 24-year-old driver, who went on to finish fifth in the race. Meanwhile, his team-mate Lando Norris topped the podium and widened the gap between himself and Piastri to 24 points at the top of the Formula One Drivers’ Standings.
Piastri fumed in the car upon learning of the time penalty. The Aussie had taken the inside line around turn one in Sao Paulo but Antonelli, with Leclerc on his right flank, cut across the Australian, squeezing him off the track and making contact with his tyres.
‘I can’t disappear,’ Piastri was heard saying over the radio, with stewards later revealing that he was ‘wholly responsible’ for the collision, adding that he had ‘not established the required overlap prior to and at the apex’.
They added: ‘Piastri locked the brakes as he attempted to avoid contact by slowing, but was unable to do so and made contact with Antonelli,’ with stewards noting this caused the Italian to make contact with Leclerc.
But after the race, McLaren principal Andrea Stella appeared to anger fans by accepting the stewards’ decision.
‘It’s difficult to say,’ he told Sky Sports F1 when asked whether he was surprised by the penalty. ‘I haven’t talked to Oscar yet. I haven’t looked at the video yet, except for the replay. It’s one of those things that I think the best thing to do is to rely on the stewards in applying some consistency.
‘We don’t have any major reasons to complain, so we just have to stay focused.’
McLaren have a right to appeal the 10-second sanction.
‘I need to review honestly with some attention,’ Stella added. ‘For the moment, we respect the decision of the stewards, and we need to take it on the chin and look forward.’
Stella added: ‘We certainly need to extract the full potential of the car and out of Oscar’s driving in all conditions. Lately, we have faced low grip conditions that have challenged his natural style. We need to make sure that even when it doesn’t work to our natural strength.
‘We also need to look at the execution on the weekend, crashing in the sprint, today with the penalty, we also need to review if there is something more we could have done to help Oscar.
‘So there are a few things we need to review, certainly not in a desperate way, but a rational way. We have many strengths on Oscar’s side, and we need to make use of them.’
But some on social media were not wholly impressed with the racing engineer’s comments. It continues a long-running conspiracy theory by some Formula One fans, who have accused McLaren of favouring Norris over Piastri, after a number of the team’s decisions have allegedly been made to the detriment of the Australian.
‘You have got to be kidding me,’ one wrote on X, in response to Stella’s post-race interview.
Another fan added: ‘This basically confirms they do not give a single f*** about Oscar.’
‘If I was Oscar, I’d be raising hell.’
‘Defend your freaking driver, please! Basicall,y all the commentators thought it was harsh. Charles even thought it was more on Kimi than Oscar! He was in the run for a podium at least without that penalty,’ another wrote.
Some believed that the penalty was fair.
‘Well, Oscar Piastri isn’t really helping himself, is he?’ one wrote on X.
‘Even the team principal is fed up with him just crashing into people and collecting penalties,’ another wrote, noting Piastri’s indifferent recent form having not won a race since the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
He had taken a commanding 34-point lead in the championship at that point in the season, but mistakes and clashes with his team-mate have proved costly since.
Amid the supposed civil war, McLaren has denied any favouritism between their drivers, with CEO Zak Brown admitting that there is ‘no chance’ they will pick one driver over the other, adding: ‘We’re racers.’
Piastri even echoed the sentiment ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix: ‘It’s not the case.’
He added: ‘There’s definitely none of that going on.’
However, the Australian, who received a further two penalty points on his licence, felt like he and his team made a few wrong calls during Saturday’s race.
‘I got a really good Safety Car restart and went to the inside.
‘I put myself up the inside pretty comfortably and there was obviously a bit of a lock-up, but I couldn’t go any further left than I already was – I can’t really just disappear.’
‘Then after that, not sure we made the right calls either, so a tough afternoon.’
Leclerc, whose tyre fell off in the accident, believed that Piastri, who had already crashed in the sprint race on Saturday, was not to blame for the incident.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has given his verdict on the incident, voicing his sympathies to the Aussie driver.
‘Oscar was optimistic, but Kimi knew that Oscar was on the inside, I think,’ Leclerc said.
‘And he kind of did the corner like Oscar was never there. And for me, the blame is not all on Oscar.
‘Yes, it was optimistic, but this could have been avoided. I’m frustrated. At the end of the day I’m not angry with any of Oscar or Kimi, these things happen.
‘But yeah, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s all of Oscar’s fault. I don’t think it is.’
