The events of the day were demanding on everyone, but the way the race turned was, according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, “very harsh” on Piastri.

Piastri was penalised for braking hard in the middle of the straight as he prepared for the restart after the final one of three safety-car periods. This, in the stewards’ view, “resulted in [Max Verstappen’s Red Bull] having to take evasive action to avoid a collision”.

Piastri was furious. But, wary of the stance the FIA is taking at the moment on drivers speaking out and not wanting to risk a further penalty or a fine, he kept his remarks well under control afterwards.

“Apparently you can’t brake behind the safety car any more,” he said. “I mean, I did it for five laps before that. Again, I’m not going say too much till I get myself in trouble.”

Piastri was bemused by the penalty, because all drivers know the leader’s actions dictate things for those behind in this sort of situation, even if there are rules to follow.

The issue seemed to be that he had driven in this way after the safety car had switched its lights off, the point at which the rules say he must “proceed at a pace which involved no erratic braking nor any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers”.

Piastri said: “I hit the brakes. At the same time I did that, the lights on the safety car went out, which was also extremely late. And then obviously, I didn’t accelerate because I can control the pace from there.

“I didn’t do anything differently to my first restart. I didn’t go any slower. I can only comment on what I felt I did, which I felt was well within the rules, and I did it once already in that race. So, yeah. I don’t really get it. I’ll go have a look back.”