Why Piastri was penalised for F1 Brazil GP clash with Antonelli and Leclerc

The FIA stewards have explained the 10-second penalty for Oscar Piastri as they blamed the McLaren driver for causing a three-car collision during the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix with Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

On a lap six safety car restart, fourth-placed Piastri went down the inside of Antonelli and Leclerc to make it three-wide into Turn 1, as he aimed to clear the pair and start chasing leader Lando Norris. As Piastri locked up his front-left tyre and he slid into Antonelli, which left the Italian sandwiched in between the McLaren and Leclerc's Ferrari, and the contact with Piastri punted Antonelli into the side of Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver came off worst by losing his front-left tyre and suffering terminal suspension damage, while both Piastri and Antonelli escaped without damage.

Upon review the FIA's race stewards felt Piastri was fully to blame for the incident and handed him a 10-second penalty to be taken at his first pitstop, which eventually dropped him from second to fifth. Piastri also received two penalty points on his licence.

Photo by: Mark Thompson - Getty Images

In their verdict the stewards judged Piastri wasn't far enough alongside Antonelli to be claiming the corner, and they also noted the Australian locked up as he tried to back out of the move.

"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," the statement read. "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. A 10-second time penalty and 2 penalty points are considered appropriate and consistent with recent precedents."

By dropping to fifth at the finish, Piastri saw his gap to McLaren team-mate and title rival Norris grow to 24 points with three rounds remaining, as Norris claimed his seventh grand prix win of 2025.