Formula 1 needs a new roadmap to guide drivers and the sport’s administrators, says Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after he was stripped of first place in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Vettel crossed the line first, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes but had victory snatched away for dangerously rejoining the race out of the pits and getting in Hamilton’s way.
The five second penalty handed down by administrators was enough to lift Hamilton to first place.
Since then, Vettel has been in an incredible sulk.
He claims drivers and their team managers must act more like lawyers than competitors as they carefully negotiate the rules and that too much regulation has taken the edge off F1.
Pointless appeal
Ferrari has appealed the decision even though the rules say a team cannot appeal a five second penalty.
Vettel feels he did nothing wrong despite cutting corners at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Race stewards think differently. They say Vettel could have taken a different line at the corners to give Hamilton more room to manoeuvre and believe he deliberately chose not to do so.
“I really love my racing. I’m a purist. I love going back and looking at the old times, the old cars, the old drivers. It’s an honour when you have the chance to meet them and talk to them; they’re heroes in a way,” said Vettel.
“I just wish I was maybe as good, doing what I do, but being in their time rather than today.
Hamilton drives on
“It’s not just about that decision today, there’s other decisions. Just hear the wording when people come on the radio, that we have now. We have an official language; I think it’s all wrong.
“We should be able to say what we think but we’re not, so in this regard I disagree with where the sport is now.”
The penalty gives Hamilton his fifth win in seven grand prix and puts him 29 points ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas and 62 points clear of Vettel. Vettel needs to win two races with Hamilton failing to pick up a point to get level with his arch rival.
>