The F1 Championship dream continues to slip away for the Aussie Oscar Piastri, as he extends his fall behind teammate Lando Norris at the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.
The famous gigantic lead Piastri once had is now turning into a slump, with Norris claiming his seventh victory of the season.
Norris started from pole position at the Interlagos circuit, meanwhile Piastri had a challenging finish to earn 5th place.
Piastri not only had a tough race, he was also given a contentious 10 second penalty after he was blamed for causing a collision after the first of two virtual safety car restarts.
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The McLaren driver launched an aggressive attack moving up the inside of Turn One on Lap 6 and locked his brakes before running out of room, colliding into Kimi Antonelli, who as consequence collided into Charles Leclerc who was on the outside.
The stewards also added two points to Piastri’s superlicence, taking him up to eight points over the last year, which puts him four points away from a race ban.
Kimi Antonelli finished second overall in the race, which is the best result for the teenager in his F1 career, while Max Verstappen produced an all-time drive after starting from pitlane to grabbing third place.
Piastri disagreed with the stewards’ ruling that he was at fault.
“I had a very clear opportunity, I went for it. The other two on the outside braked quite late,” he said.
“There was obviously a bit of a lockup 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.“
A lot of of people, including British commentators who have long been accused of preferring Norris in the title race, agreed with Piastri that the penalty was harsh.
Leclerc, who had to retire from the race after the incident, said the Australian was unlucky to be given a penalty because he thought Antonelli was as much to blame.
“Oscar was optimistic but Kimi knew that Oscar was on the inside, I think, and he kind of did the corner like Oscar was never there,” Leclerc said.
“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 Oscar or Kimi, these things happen, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was all Oscar’s fault. I don’t think it is.“
Without Piastri’s 10 second penalty, the Aussie would have finished second and gained an extra eight points.
The stewards explained why he was given the 10-second penalty:
“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.
“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.”
There is a maximum 83 points available from the last three races of the season, and Piastri mathematically still has a chance to win the drivers’ championship despite his recent struggle in form.
After the first 16 races, Piastri was leading by 34 points and finished on the podium in 14 of them.
In the last five races, he has finished outside the top three in each of the last five Grands Prix, while also crashing in two sprints.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is on November 23 3PM AEST, where Piastri hopes to finish the season strong.