Oscar Piastri was left to a rue a 10-second penalty for causing a collision as McLaren teammate Lando Norris claimed victory at the Brazil Grand Prix.
Norris’ second straight win extended his lead at the top of the driver’s championship to 24 points with three races remaining as Piastri finished fifth.
The Australian came out hard early in the race after starting in fourth, at point sitting second behind his teammate who began from pole, but a lap six crash ruining his hopes of overtaking Norris.
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“Nice race, well executed. Good job all weekend,” Norris said on the team radio post-race.
“Not quite a big enough gap for my liking though, definitely some things to look at. Let’s keep things going, thanks guys!”
Piastri ended the day 15.749 seconds behind the Brit, with Kimi Antonelli, who recorded his best ever finish in a Grand Prix, and Max Verstappen taking the other podium places.
Antonelli was involved in the early collision that was costly for the Australian.
At the restart from a safety car, Piastri went down the inside of Antonelli, but things got tight and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the unlucky one, having to retire after Antonelli’s Mercedes bounced off the McLaren and into Leclerc on the outside.
“He left me no space,” Piastri said on the team radio.
Race officials laid blame with the Australian, however, and Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle agreed on commentary.
“That’s the standard penalty. There were no mitigating circumstances, so I’m not surprised,” he said.
“He now needs to build a 10s gap over Antonelli.
“He had to have a go, there’s no doubt about that, but the penalty is a fair cop.”
Piastri was forced to try make up ground for the remainder of the race, but was unable to get past the podium finishers or fourth placed George Russell.
It also lend to some tension between the driver and his McLaren team, as on lap 46, he made it clear he was uncertain about being told to push by his engineer Tom Stallard.
“I hope you’re a bit more optimistic than I am, because it does not look pretty where I am sat,” Piastri said on the team radio.
It was Norris’ seventh win of the season, and he said post-race that the key to his good form in the closing stages of the season was blocking out the external noise.
“Just ignore everyone that talks crap about you! Just focus on yourself. The team are doing an amazing job, giving me a great car,” Norris said.
“We are pushing hard every single weekend and I’m pushing hard away from the track.
“Rewarding. It doesn’t come easy. To be honest, I don’t think we were the quickest today but I’m glad to take home the win.”
Brundle said on commentary that today might prove to be pivotal in the world championship.
“Lando with two wins this weekend. It has been a super strong weekend from Lando,” he said.
“If he becomes world champion, this will be one of the turning points of the season.”
Brundle added: “He is almost one race victory ahead of Oscar Piastri and almost two ahead of Max Verstappen.
“That’s a handy advantage to have at this stage of the season.”
A day that could have been very ugly turned around dramatically for Verstappen.
The Red Bull superstar suffered a puncture early in the race and earned driver of the day honours as he fought his way through the field to finish third after starting from the pit lane in 19th.
“That’s a really good race from us. We at least tried!” Verstappen said on the team radio after crossing the finish line.
Antonelli said that it was very nerve-racking having the Dutchman on his tail in the closing laps.
“I don’t know where this guy came from, to be honest! I didn’t see it coming,” he said.
“To be fair, I was lucky to come away from the restart with the contact. Need to check the car, it felt a bit weird afterwards, but still a good race.
“The last laps were very stressful with Max coming with fresher tyres but luckily with free air we were able to maintain a decent pace and finish P2.”
On the other hand, it was a horror day for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc both having to retire with Hamilton experiencing car troubles.
