New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has described Oscar Piastri’s penalty at the São Paulo Grand Prix as “definitely on the harsh side”, after the Australian was handed a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Kimi Antonelli during Sunday’s race.

Piastri finished fifth at Interlagos after serving the penalty during his first pit stop. The stewards deemed him wholly responsible for the Lap 20 incident, which occurred immediately after a Safety Car restart when he attempted an inside move on Antonelli at Turn 1.

The two made contact, sending the Mercedes rookie into Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who had been trying to pass around the outside. The clash forced Leclerc to retire, while Piastri initially moved up to second behind teammate and eventual race winner Lando Norris — before the penalty cost him a potential podium.

“In terms of the penalty, I would say that [it was] definitely on the harsh side,” Stella was quoted by Formula 1. “It’s true, we see a little lock-up, but at the same time, he’s able to maintain the trajectory, which is ultimately what counts.”

The McLaren boss suggested that the blame should have been shared between the two drivers. “I think the responsibility should be shared with Kimi, because Kimi kind of knew that Oscar was on the inside, and the collision probably could have been avoided,” Stella continued.

“Perhaps Kimi was also worried about having Leclerc on the outside. A difficult situation, obviously, a difficult situation, but I think overall the penalty is harsh for Oscar to be considered fully to blame for this incident.

“At the same time, now it’s done. So, like I reiterate, the respect that we have for the stewards, we accept it, we move on.”

The result leaves Piastri 24 points behind Norris in the drivers’ standings with just three Grands Prix and one Sprint left in the season. The 24-year-old has not been on the podium for five races, and his recent performances have been inconsistent compared to his strong start to the year.

However, Stella found positives in Piastri’s race pace in Brazil. “From a pace point of view, I think the pace was quite encouraging in the second and third stints,” he said. “In the first stint, Oscar was carrying some damage on the tyre that was locked, and he was also kind of thinking that the stint would have been long, but in the second and the third stint, I think the performance was good.”

“Just talking right now with Oscar, some of the adaptations that we talked about in these low-grip conditions, I think he was able to execute them during the race,” Stella added. “So, I think we take away from this event encouraging indications from a performance point of view and a race pace point of view.”

–IANS

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