Charles Leclerc claims that Kimi Antonelli was as responsible as Oscar Piastri for the incident that wrecked both of their races in Brazil.

As far as the stewards were concerned, at the Safety Car restart on Lap 6, Piastri attempted to overtake Kimi Antonelli on the inside of Turn 1. In doing so, the Australian did not establish the required overlap prior to and at the apex, as his front axle was not alongside the mirror of the Mercedes, as defined in the Driving Standard Guidelines for overtaking on the inside of a corner.

Piastri locked his brakes as he attempted to avoid contact by slowing, but was unable to do so and made contact with the Mercedes. This contact caused Antonelli to make secondary contact with Leclerc, who was positioned on the outside and was forced to retire from the race as a result.

Piastri was therefore wholly responsible for the collision, deemed the stewards, who handed the Australian a 10-second time penalty and 2 penalty points.

At the time Piastri served his penalty on Lap 38, he was leading the racing, having inherited it when his teammate pitted seven laps earlier. On serving his penalty he rejoined in seventh, and though he was able to make his way back up to fifth by the end, there is no doubt that the 10-second penalty wrecked his hopes of a podium.

"In my opinion I had a very clear opportunity up the inside and went for it," said the Australian at race end, "yes there was a lock-up but, you know, I was firmly on the apex, on the white line, I couldn't go any further left, and I can't just disappear.

"The decision is what it is," he added, "it was one of a number of difficult moments through today and this weekend, but, yeah, I wouldn't have done anything differently if I had another chance."

Asked if the lock-up was an indication of him having lost control of his car, Piastri said: "I don't know. No matter what way you look at it, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go, because, you know, when you have that good of a run into Turn 1, fully alongside, you're not just going to back out.

"To try and go in any deeper than I did would have been ambitious," he continued, "and I was where I was. So, I think in that scenario if I was clearly understeering and missing the apex, and then hit Kimi, then sure I'd understand. But the fact I was as far left as I could have gone, makes it tough."

"I watched it from afar, from where I was sat in the grass looking at the big screen from far," said Leclerc. "It's a shame. Collateral damage of an incident between Oscar and Kimi, where in my opinion actually Kimi was as much to blame as Oscar.

"For me it's a bit of a 50-50 incident," he added, "Oscar being optimistic, Kimi doing the corner like Oscar was never there. And that means they collided and touched me.

"Very frustrating considering we are fighting for the second in the championship and we are the only ones that are not finishing the race today. So, it's going to be very difficult to get that second now."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Wokingchap, 3 hours ago

"On another (important) note...... Laura Villars is taking Legal Action against the Fia over its Presidential Election Campaign (rules i suppose). Should be VER interesting!"

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2. Posted by Hobgoblin, 4 hours ago

"Rightly or not, the rule regarding 'the right to the corner' is quite clear.
Under these rules, Oscar didn't have the right to the corner. A collision ensued. He is accountable under these rules.
Others have also suffered the same penalty this year, so for once there is a bit of consistency...

That said, I think the rule is wrong - if there is a car on the inside, it is not going to just disappear and therefore you have to leave room for it. In reality, Kimi was at fault. Under the rules, it was Oscar."

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Leclerc disagrees with stewards over Piastri clash

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