Nov 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Red Bull Racing director Helmut Marko arrives before free practice at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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Helmut Marko Questions Consistency of FIA Stewards!

Helmut Marko is not impressed with FIA handing out penalties on a whim

Nov 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Red Bull Racing director Helmut Marko arrives before free practice at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

FIA made a rather strange decision during the 2025 British Grand Prix. They chose to penalise Oscar Piastri for erratic driving behind the safety car during the race. This led to a massive disappointment for Oscar Piastri. The penalty of 10s which was handed over to Oscar Piastri ended up ruining his race. He did claim a second place but he was far away from the dominant victory he was looking forward to.

Oscar Piastri’s penalty came after an incident behind the safety car wherein he accelerated too fast and braked suddenly. This created mayhem down the field, momentarily allowing Max Verstappen to overtake Oscar Piastri. The situation was incredibly similar to what happened during the Canadian Grand Prix safety car laps. Last time, George Russell made a mistake but he was not awarded the penalty. Red Bull Racing even tried to protest his win but their demands were rejected.

Helmut Marko Compares the Two Incidents Behind Safety Car Calling for Better Decisions

Helmut Marko was quick to point out the disparity which occurred during these two incidents. Marko believes that the British Grand Prix penalty was a right step forward by the FIA stewards. However, he is still sour about the fact that George Russell got away with the same action in Canada.

“A shock at Silverstone: the 10-second penalty for Piastri. It’s not the first time we’ve seen such a hairy scene behind the safety car. I think the penalty was okay in terms of the context, but we wish the race stewards had a bit more consistency in their judgment.”

A clear message from Helmut to the F1 stewards!#F1 #F1News #F12025 https://t.co/Ppqr8x1RIY
— RacingNews365.com (@Racingnews365c) July 12, 2025

Additionally, Helmut Marko also called out the fans for the bias. He claims that both fans and teams do not understand the situation truly. Thus they can clearly decide if George Russell deserved a penalty or not compared to Oscar Piastri.

He also mentions Max Verstappen’s championship title hopes dwindling down. But Helmut Marko has not given up yet. The team is still fighting forward to maintain his hopes in the 2025 drivers championship.

British Grand Prix 2025

George Russell

Helmut Marko

Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri

Red Bull Racing

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.