Max Verstappen was left ruing some underhand tactics at the British Grand Prix that left him sideways on the Silverstone circuit.

The four-time champion nabbed a shock pole for round 12, but rain and early chaos saw McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pass him early on.

Sky

However, the pair stayed in close contact, and when a third of three safety cars left the race, the championship leader, Piastri, tried another trick to keep Verstappen behind him.

The race leader is allowed to set the pace under safety car conditions, but Piastri took that privilege to the extreme on lap 21 as he slammed on the brakes down the Brooklands straight.

The tactic completely caught out Verstappen who nearly hit the Australian and passed him.

Fuming over team radio, the No.1 said: “Woah mate, f***!

“He just suddenly again slows down!”

Yet seconds later Verstappen had other problems, as he dropped his Red Bull heading through the final sector to restart the race.

The Dutchman tumbled from second to ninth, alleviating the pressure on leader Piastri.

However, the McLaren driver soon had other problems, as the FIA stewards declared the slowing down a rule break.

A ten-second penalty was handed out to the Australian, but that wasn’t much salve to Verstappen who was left scrapping for tenth and could only recover to fifth for the finish line.

Piastri ended up second on track with McLaren teammate Lando Norris won the race – his first at his home British Grand Prix.

Getty

The incident also sees Piastri’s championship lead further reduce to eight points, but it’s hard for him to have many complaints.

FIA rules stipulate that under a safety car: “No car may be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person at any time whilst the safety car is deployed.”

Piastri is usually silky smooth in such circumstances, and his slip up was even more inexplicable given the FIA recently reaffirmed the rules after a similar incident.

In Canada, just two rounds ago, George Russell similarly braked under the safety car while leading Verstappen who briefly passed him.

Both drivers instantly accused the other of an infringement, and Red Bull later lodged a protest, but the movement was clearly not in the same category as Piastri’s when it comes to danger.

Elsewhere Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg joined Norris and Piastri on the podium, claiming his first top three finish after 242 attempts – which was by far the longest record in F1 history.