Seb penalty will not be challenged
It is reported that Ferrari have decided not to appeal against Sebastian Vettel’s five-second penalty from last weekend’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
Vettel won the race in Montreal but on lap 48 the Ferrari driver was given the five-second penalty for almost colliding with Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton.
According to the race stewards’ report of the incident Vettel’s car “left the track, re-joined unsafely and forced another car off track”.
World champion Hamilton went on to claim victory in Canada ahead of Vettel and extended his lead at the top of the 2019 world championship.
Ferrari had initially said they would appeal the stewards’ decision.
But the Daily Mail reports that team principal Mattia Binotto has “written to the FIA to inform them that Ferrari will not be lodging a challenge ahead of the deadline on Thursday evening”.
Marko claims Mercedes bias
Planet F1 reports that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that Vettel’s penalty in Montreal is another sign of bias towards Mercedes.
Following Vettel’s penalty Hamilton claimed his fifth win of the 2019 season and seventh out of seven for the Silver Arrows.
Speaking to Auto Bild Marko said: “Sebastian did not do anything wrong. He had his hands full keeping the car on the track.
“Hamilton could just have passed on the inside or simply braked. He also has a duty to prevent an accident but he risked a collision to gain an advantage. And then he complained on the radio.
“Sebastian’s penalty is therefore unfair and leaves a bad aftertaste. The rules urgently need changing.
“Let’s put it this way: it’s noticeable that the rule changes and decisions have always been good for Mercedes lately.”
F1 news headlines
What the media is writing about in the world of Formula 1:
- Vettel penalty reopens debate about F1’s racing rulebook (Sky Sports)
- Binotto insists Ferrari haven’t found cure for weaknesses yet (GP Blog)
- F1 teams are split over talks on budget reform delay (BBC Sport)
- Bottas sure of handling pressure of Hamilton battle (GP Fans)
- Nico Hulkenberg on taking Renault back to the front, winning Le Mans, and more (Formula 1 Beyond the Grid Podcast)
