THERE was a bonkers restart after a safety car at the British Grand Prix as Max Verstappen dramatically SPUN OFF track.
The Dutchman, who was in second place, had momentarily pulled in front of Oscar Piastri who slowed right down as the safety car was ending.
Max Verstappen dramatically spun during a safety car restart
GettyThe Dutchman dropped from P2 to P11[/caption]
APIt came seconds after race leader Oscar Piastri abruptly slowed down during the restart[/caption]
GettyIsack Hadjar walked away from his crash unharmed[/caption]
Amid all the confusion, Verstappen spun wildly before recovering and dropping all the way back into 11th.
The reigning world champion was left fuming, and said on his team radio: “Whoa, mate! Jesus, just suddenly again slows down!”
Silverstone race stewards later investigated Piastri for a Safety Car infringement and he was slapped with a whopping ten-second time penalty.
Lando Norris just needed to stay within touching distance from his team-mate and the Silverstone crown would be his.
The safety car had been called into action as Isack Hadjar slammed into the wall and was luckily left unhurt.
The Racing Bulls youngster had crashed into the back of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli after failing to spot him behind a curtain wall of rain spray in the treacherous conditions.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown on Sky Sports F1: “We’re debating that here on the pit wall. That was a bit of a late Safety Car call in.
“The leader controls the race. I think it looked a little bit more dramatic on TV than we saw on telemetry.”
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He also admitted McLaren are considering appealing, saying: “Yeah. That’s exactly the conversation that we’re having.
“I think you also had Max accelerating because he thought Oscar was about ready to go. A combination of both.”
The changeable conditions at Silverstone sparked chaos as early as the first lap, as Liam Lawson was hit out of the race.
Rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and Hadjar also crashed out of the race, with the latter’s crash causing the Safety Car chaos which saw Verstappen spin out.
Norris went on to become the 13th British driver to win the home Grand Prix as he took the chequered flag ahead of team-mate Piastri.
In finishing third, Nico Hulkenberg ended an unwanted F1 record by finally landing a spot on the podium after 239 races.
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