Martin Brundle believes the FIA Stewards judged Oscar Piastri too severely following his clash with Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

After a Safety Car intervention brought on by Gabriel Bortoleto's lap 1 crash with Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton's run-in with Franco Colapinto, the field roared back up to racing speed on lap 6 with Lando Norris leading the field.

Antonelli, however, was slow to aply the throttle giving Piastri a chance he'd never miss. In his column for Sky Sports, Brundle wrote: “He had a tremendous run towards Turn 1 with a good chance to pass both Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc down the inside to seize an important second place.”

“He simply had to go for it, and I’m sure given the same opportunity 20 more times, he would do it every time.

“Antonelli had Leclerc to his right but with space, and he must have known Piastri was on his inside as he swept towards the apex," he added.

Antonelli's role, mitigating circumstances and verdict on Piastri

Brundle then emphasised that Antonelli had a hand in the crash, albeit if he did agree that Piastri should've been penalised, however, not to the extent that he was.

He continued: "Had his confidence have been higher he might have released the brakes and claimed the apex of the corner, and sorted it out from there, but he was driving into a wedge and instinctively braked.

"The problem for Oscar is that the initial optics didn't look at all good in that he'd locked up, hit Antonelli's rear axle with his front, skittled two cars including one into instant retirement, and gained two places."

Photo: Race Pictures

The penalty, though deserved in Brundle's opinion, he also found it too severe. The British former F1 driver added: "That was very harsh, there was a clear mitigating circumstance that he was squeezed by the Mercedes, and that this action contributed to his lock up and contact, It would have been easy to justify reducing that to a five-second penalty - as Oscar said, 'I can't just disappear'.

"Considering it as a typical racing incident would be marginal. No penalty at all, and therefore by default wholly blaming Antonelli, not realistic," he concluded.

Piastri answers Brazil GP Stewards

When addressing his penalty Piastri was quick to tell media he was unsure of "where I was supposed to go," and arguing that even despite the lock -up he stayed in full control of his machinery prior to the contact, placing a portion of the blame on Antonelli. Charles Leclerc, the unexpecting cassualty of the collision, agreed with the Australian driver.

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