Vettel, on his penalty: “They stole the race from us!”
Stripped of his victory after a five-second penalty, Sebastian Vettel obviously didn't mince his words against the stewards... while putting words into action by swapping the first and second place signs at the finish line: undoubtedly the highlight of this Canadian Grand Prix!
Here is the controversy of this Sunday in Montreal: the 5-second penalty given to Sebastian Vettel on the 58th lap of the race, which cost him the victory to the benefit of Lewis Hamilton. The poleman on Saturday, the Scuderia Ferrari driver seemed to have done the hardest part in the race, after holding off his rival at the start, on the first stint on mediums and the beginning of the second stint on hards, starting on lap 27. Increasingly struggling with his hard tires, Vettel was threatened by Hamilton, with DRS from lap 41. The provisional leader was adding more pressure, with a fastest lap on the 42nd pass, before cracking!
The 48th lap was indeed fatal to his ambitions: in oversteer, the former Red Bull driver missed the braking at the 4th corner. After going through the grass, Vettel reentered the track, just in front of Hamilton, squeezing him to the right along the wall. Forced to brake, the Briton avoided the collision, not without displeasure. Naturally, the FIA opened an investigation… While the action seemed mostly like a racing incident, the stewards made a decision with heavy consequences ten laps later: a 5-second penalty for Vettel added to his race time! The turning point of an epic race end…
« Where was I supposed to go? »
The end of Vettel’s Grand Prix was inevitably an ordeal, leading but unable to distance himself from Hamilton, and rather busy complaining over the radio, as shown by these exchanges between the driver and Ricardo Adami, his race engineer.
Adami to Vettel: « We have a five-second penalty for rejoining the track unsafely. Keep cool. »
Vettel: « I had nowhere to go. Seriously, I had nowhere to go. I didn’t see him! When you go on the grass and come back on track, you lose grip! Where was I supposed to go? I had grass on my tires! He decided to take that line; if he had taken the inside, he would have made it! »
Adami: Message received but stay focused. There are 10 laps left!
Vettel: « I’m focused but they stole the race from us! »
“Where am I supposed to go?”#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/gWjWNmdOE4
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 9, 2019
Finally busy defending his gap against Leclerc, Vettel still took second place at the finish, red with anger, with this explicit message.
« No, no, no. Not like that, no, no, no. Seriously, you have to be blind to think you can control your car once you’re on the grass. I was already lucky not to hit the wall. Damn, where was I supposed to go? This is really a mistake. I’m telling you, it’s not fair. Thanks anyway for the support. Great race. Thanks, guys! »
An exchange accompanied by this message from Mattia Binotto, the team principal of Ferrari, who immediately consoled his driver via the radio: « Seb, you won the race on the track. That’s the most important thing for us and the team. We appreciated your effort. Keep a cool head and stay calm. »
« It’s not fair. It’s really not fair! I’m angry and you know why. I don’t care what people say! » Sebastian Vettel
Irritated, the four-time world champion did not stop at his designated spot for second place at the end of the pit lane, opting instead to pause at the beginning of it to join the Ferrari hospitality and collect his thoughts for a moment. However, Vettel then drove back to the top 3 area… and swapped the first and second place signs in front of Hamilton’s Mercedes! A remarkable image that will undoubtedly be remembered from the 2019 season.
Vettel revient pour changer les panneaux indiquant les positions 👀👀😮#F1 #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/CZqo2wjNdJ
— Secteur F1 🏎🇫🇷 (@Secteur_F1) 9 juin 2019
Still in shock, Vettel kept repeating the phrase “Where was I supposed to go?” in the cool room, in front of a Hamilton who was sorry for his situation. A bit colder on the podium, Vettel expressed his frustration further, speaking to Martin Brundle and urging the public not to boo Hamilton, but rather “those who make these funny decisions,” referring to the panel of stewards led by Emanuele Pirro, a former Endurance driver and five-time Le Mans winner.
« Firstly, I enjoyed myself during the race. As for the rest, I’ve said everything. Ask the audience!
Lewis had a lot of respect! The public shouldn’t boo Lewis.
The winners’ perspective!
For his part, Lewis Hamilton defended his point of view on the same podium:
« When you return to the track, you must not come back directly onto the racing line. You must do it cautiously. It’s unlucky (editor’s note: for Sebastian), but that’s motor racing. » Lewis Hamilton
Remarks later supported by Toto Wolff on Canal+ microphone: « there is a rule that says if you go off the track, you leave a car’s width of space. But here it’s not black and white: it’s a 60-40 decision in favor of Lewis for us, but for Ferrari, it’s necessarily different. All opinions must be respected! »
In the case, Vettel loses two penalty points on his license for this action, in addition to his five-second penalty on his final ranking. In this turbulent outcome, let’s still note Hamilton’s fair-play gesture, who invited Vettel to the top step of the podium at this Canadian Grand Prix. But here, the question is not about the rivalry between the two drivers, who have a lot of respect for each other, but about the gesture of the FIA. Did the action really deserve these five seconds of penalty? The debate is open, at all levels. Feel free to react to our poll, and indicate your position in the comments section… in accordance with the rules!
