Karun Chandhok on why the fact Vettel made a 'mistake' should have been a determining factor in the decision that has got F1 talking
Thursday 13 June 2019 10:48, UK
The Canadian Grand Prix ended in very controversial circumstances with Sebastian Vettel being penalised for 'rejoining the track in a dangerous manner' after going wide at Turn Three. This of course became the single biggest talking point of the season so far.
Looking at social media, it does seem that there are some fans who think the penalty was justified but by large, most fans and people in the paddock seem to believe it was too harsh.
Personally, I too believe it was unjustified. On the Sky Sports F1 coverage in the video above, Jenson Button and I were able to break it down frame by frame and analyse it and we both seemed to reach similar conclusions. It's worth remembering Sebastian was doing over a hundred miles per hour there and not looking at things frame by frame!
Yes, Lewis pressured Sebastian into a mistake, which to me is a key point. The Mercedes man seemed happier on the hard tyres at that phase of the race and he closed right up behind Sebastian. This was not a situation where Seb intentionally came off the brakes and cut the chicane, like we see people do in places like Abu Dhabi. Believe me, no driver ever wants to find themselves on the grass outside Turn Three, with the wall that close!
When Seb bounced back onto the track, the rear of the car kicked sideways and he had a snap of oversteer. That was not him steering into Lewis' path or squeezing Lewis into the wall. It was simply an instinctive reaction of a driver catching the oversteer caused by the rear of his car bouncing when he re-joined the track.
You can then see Sebastian put a lot of steering lock on to turn left and straighten the car, thereby giving Lewis space. If his intention was to squeeze Lewis, he would not have turned the steering wheel as much. From the moment he got full control of the car, he went straight - not right to squeeze Lewis.
Therefore to me, this was an incident where a driver simply made an error, bounced back into the path of another car who, yes, had to take avoiding action but that was always a gap that was going to close. That is simply the nature of racing on a street track where the walls are close - sometimes you have to take avoiding action when a car in front has an incident.
For example, let's take a hypothetical scenario where Sebastian kisses the wall at Turn Four and bounced onto the track in front of Lewis. Lewis would have had to take avoiding action and maybe even brake. He would then have passed Sebastian because Seb had damage from touching the wall. Do you then penalise Sebastian for rejoining the track in a dangerous manner? I don't think so.
Ultimately, my underlying feeling was that a driver was being penalised for making an error which has anyway cost him lap time, and that's harsh. This was quality driving from two great drivers, pushing their cars at a relentless pace for every corner of every lap and one of them made an error. That's human and he should not have been penalised for it.
I don't blame Lewis and Mercedes for complaining to the FIA about Sebastian because that's part of the game that all the teams play. I actually wonder if at these moments, it's better for the teams not to be able to communicate to race control because their incessant badgering will have an influence. If the boot was on the other foot, unquestionably Ferrari would have complained and Mercedes would have defended the case - that's just the way things are in F1 nowadays which in itself seems wrong, but that's a whole other subject for another day.
Having said all that, I do sympathise with Emanuele Pirro, who was the driver steward this weekend. Emanuele is the nicest man in motor racing and I'm proud to call him a good friend of mine. Unfortunately for him, because the other stewards do not have the public profile that he does, he was the one who was personally targeted by several media, internet trolls and Ferrari fans which was unfair. He's a part of a panel that jointly made the decision so it was wrong by anyone to single him out.
On the whole I thought that apart from that one mistake at Turn Three, Sebastian was brilliant this weekend. He was on the back foot after the first run in Q3 but delivered a superlative lap to take pole position. In the race he and Ferrari made their strategy work and despite the Mercedes looking like a quicker car, he managed to hold Lewis at bay. If you take away that five-second penalty, there's no way that Lewis would have won. He himself admitted that he would not have passed Sebastian on track and really for the sake of the championship battle, it would have been good to see Seb take a win after such a long dry spell.
The shenanigans at the front somewhat overshadowed some great drives further back with the two Renaults delivering their best result of the season. I have to say well done to the engine department at Renault, who showed that they are making steps forward by putting all four Renault powered cars into the top 10 in Qualifying on a power circuit. Daniel Ricciardo delivered a stonking lap in Qualifying but I actually think Nico Hulkenberg had a better race before being told to hold position.
Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat also had good races to rack up points, while conversely Valtteri Bottas had a nightmare weekend where his championship aspirations have taken a big dent. Lewis is now 29 points ahead, which is crucially more than a race victory, and you get the feeling the momentum is now falling away from the Finn.
At the time of writing this column, Ferrari have filed their intention to appeal the decision in Montreal so this discussion could rumble on so keep your eyes and ears open for more news!
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