Steward: No penalty for post-race Vettel tantrum
One of the three Canadian GP stewards said they decided not to penalise Sebastian Vettel for his post-race antics of last Sunday in Montreal.
Hans-Gerd Ennser, under fire for the time penalty that cost Ferrari's Vettel victory, says the FIA panel actually gave the German as lenient a punishment as possible.
"It could have been 10 or 20 seconds or a stop-go penalty," he is quoted by Kleine Zeitung.
"The five second penalty is the least penalty for such an offense."
Ennser also explained that the stewards decided not to add to Vettel's troubles by penalising his post-race antics, including boycotting 'parc ferme' and switching the positions of the number 1 and 2 marker boards.
"We were told about these incidents, but we thought that because of the high emotions and the great pressure Vettel was under, we would not impose any further penalties," he said.
Another Canadian F1 GP steward, Mathieu Remmerie, also defended the imposition of Vettel's time penalty.
"The rules are what they are, and we are here to apply the rules," he told the Belgian news agency Sporza.
"The discussion as to whether the rules need to be adjusted may of course take place," Remmerie added.
"As a motor sport enthusiast, I naturally also like to see a great race. Do some regulations go too far in certain cases? Maybe yes.
"If you compare motor sport with 10 to 20 years ago, then a lot has been improved, but it was always also at the initiative of the teams themselves," he said.
Remmerie admitted he was "slightly shocked" by the "huge media attention" since the controversial decision last Sunday.
But he said: "There will always be commotion around certain decisions."
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Do the crime serve the time
Oh so next time a driver throws his toys out of the pram they'll serve no penalty either. FIA (Ferrari International Rescue) favouring drivers of the Red car, again!
Get it right the next time. FIA stands for Ferrari Internal Affairs.
"....Another Canadian F1 GP steward, Mathieu Remmerie, also defended the imposition of Vettel's time penalty. "The rules are what they are, and we are here to apply the rules," he told the Belgian news agency Sporza...."
Sounds pretty much like the ticket writing quota that the American police work by - each policeman has to write assigned number of tickets penalizing drivers for infractions. A sheer revenue raising proposition.
The stewards probably thought: we better write some tickets, it won't look too good if we don't penalise someone. They should, perhaps, be reminded that most legal codes have a built in "circuit breaker" which stipulates that "it is illegal to enforce the law for the sake of enforcing the law."
I just wonder what would be the topic of conversation in F1 if it was not for Vettel and his errors for which he have been penalised as they were criminal offences?Is F1 becoming politically correct? There is too much attention on Seb and I suggest that it needs to be diverted elsewhere.He has been provoked and now he seems to have a negative celebrity image and nobody likes to be there, and we know that Vettel himself does not enjoy being in the spotlight.He loves to race and hopes he can challenge Hamilton in spite of all the obstacles he has encountered so far. His fans do not want to see him humiliated and degraded and I trust there will be a light at the end of the F1 tunnel.
What do you mean "Is F1 becoming politically correct?"
It's been so for quite a while.
If you read the Stewards report on the incident, Vettel got less than he deserved. He went of the track, and came back on, and forced Hamilton of the track. Vettel actively steered to the right, after he regained control of his car. If you go off the track, you must re-enter the track in a manner that does not impede other drivers that are on the track. He intentionally moved to the right to impede Hamilton, so he got a penalty. Do the crime serve the time.
Beckmann!!! Please!!! Did you even see the video??? From the aerial it appeared to be intentional but from the cockpit view He was clearing attempting to correct oversteer.
The Stewards made it quite clear in their report, the
Vettel regained control of his car, and then released his hands from the steering wheel, which caused his car to veer to the right, and impede car 44. If he had kept his hands on the wheel, and stay on the line he was on, Hamilton would have got past. Vettel cut the corner, which gains him an advantage, so he could have redressed the situation, but he choose not to, so suffered the consequence.
....Vettel got less than he deserved.
Most of us agree - he won and was denied the victory.
But you, of course, fancy yourself in the role of the commandant of penal colony, addressing newly arriving convicts:
""Make the best of what we offer you," the prison chief concludes, "and you will suffer less than you deserve.""
What would have happened if there was a barrier at that turn where Vettel made his mistake in Canada - instead of grass? Yep he would have probably not been able to continue the race - so his mistake caused him to have a penalty- fair and square . He acted like a spoilt g*t in Canada - shows he is becoming desperate! Obviously, his disgraceful behaviour was Vettel trying to side track his mistake under pressure instead of accepting his mistakes like a true professional. I am sure if it had been Leclerc instead of Vettel the young man would have acted more maturely at the end of the race!
Vettel is very clever man (apparently he has a degree in aerospace engineering) but cant drive well under pressure !!! He should have been penalised for breaking the rules and acting his shoe size at the end of the race- Max was rightly penalised when he decided to beat-up Ocon last season so why not Vettel!