Championship leader explains why he was unhappy with grid penalty last week in Austria
Monday 10 December 2018 09:01, UK
Sebastian Vettel has aimed fresh criticism at Formula 1's rulebook in the wake of the 'blocking' penalty at the Austrian GP which dropped him down the grid.
The Ferrari driver was relegated from third to sixth on last Sunday's grid for impeding Renault's Carlos Sainz in the second stage of qualifying and, while Vettel and his team admitted the error, the four-time world champion still felt the penalty was unnecessary.
And asked on his arrival at this week's British GP to give his view on the grid drop, Vettel bemoaned the sport's regulations and admitted drivers were partly culpable.
"I think I've said before I'm not a fan of penalties. I think I've said as well in the past it's our own fault, the drivers' fault, because we sit there on Friday afternoon complaining about the decisions and the consistency [of them]," said Vettel.
"My point of view is motorsport is not black and white so not every decision can be the same and I don't see the necessity to decide every time, but that's what the sport has developed into. Every incident needs to be looked at - so-called racing incidents for some reason are not allowed to happen anymore.
"So we end up with a massive rulebook which could have the header 'we're not allowed to race' because that's sometimes how it feels."
The penalty restarted debate about whether F1 penalties always fit the crime given Sainz, while forced to take to the run-off area at Turn One, still progressed to Q3 on a later lap in the session.
"Obviously in that situation in qualy no one was hurt, Carlos said it was no problem and he completely understood and was chilled, but still we ended up with a penalty," added Vettel.
"So for me it sucked on the day, it will probably suck for somebody else at some point in the season."
British GP underway on Sunday at 2.10pm, Sky F1 coverage from 12.30pm
In their reasoning, stewards rebuked Vettel for staying on the racing line during his slow-down lap given Ferrari drivers have said they struggle to see in their rear-view mirrors.
But the German, who received an in-race penalty at the previous race in France for colliding with Valtteri Bottas at the start, argued that genuine mistakes should not always lead to official sanction.
"I just think all these things are unnecessary because sometimes it's not that you lose your mind or do something crazy because you intend to, you try to push the limits and you might do a mistake," added Vettel.
"It's happening everywhere else, I think there's a trend everywhere else that things are being investigated. I really don't like the word, but that's what it is."
Had Vettel started where he qualified, in third, then he would likely have been in position to take maximum profit from title rival Mercedes' rare double DNF instead of finishing on the bottom step of the podium.
The four-time champion did still reclaim the title lead from Lewis Hamilton by a single point and asked if he had any regrets that his advantage could have been far wider, Vettel insisted: "I'm still happy with one at the end of the year! If it's one or 10 it doesn't matter.
"I don't know; I think we have to take every opportunity that we get. It's the same as from the beginning of the season. Sometimes you might look back and say it might have been better to do this or that, but we're here to look forward and we've collected a lot of points as we are moving forward. It's the right approach."
It's summer, it's Silverstone and it's the 2018 British Grand Prix! Don't miss a minute of Sky F1's extensive coverage - featuring 2009 world champion Jenson Button - across the weekend. Sunday's race begins at 2.10pm with build-up from 12.30pm Get Sky Sports F1.
Comment below to get involved in the debate, but please adhere to our House Rules. If you wish to report any comment, simply click on the down arrow next to the offending comment and click 'Report'.
