[SIZE=6]Formula 1 waits on FIA over Vettel incident[/SIZE]
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8:48 – The FIA will convene today (Monday) in order to evaluate whether further action is necessary against Sebastian Vettel over the Baku controversy, as F1 awaits a decision, and its potential impact on the title fight.
A civil championship battle between two of the most esteemed marques in the automotive world, Mercedes and Ferrari, involving two of the statistically-dominant drivers of the decade, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, deteriorated in astounding circumstances in Azerbaijan.
What happened?
Hamilton controlled proceedings from pole position and surged clear at the first Safety Car restart, nailing the throttle exiting Turn 16, with his race engineer consequently informing him that his decision to go early was tight.
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The field was subsequently bunched mere moments later when further debris was littered on the circuit.
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Ahead of the second restart, Hamilton backed up the field through Turn 15, as the Safety Car scampered clear.
Vettel struck the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes, with parts of red front wing and silver diffuser elements scattered in the contact, before gesticulating and pulling alongside the Mercedes driver. Contact is then made, side-on-side, between the cars, with Vettel’s SF70-H briefly bouncing into the air.
What happened next?
Hamilton pulled clear at the restart, as Vettel defended second spot, before the race was red flagged due to the quantity of debris on track. It was confirmed that Vettel was under investigation by the stewards and he took the restart in second place. Just as Vettel inherited the lead, amid Hamilton’s headrest issue, he was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty.
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The Stewards’ “examined video evidence which showed that car 5 drove alongside and then steered into car 44,” read the decision. “The Stewards decide this manoeuvre was deemed potentially dangerous.”
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A perplexed Vettel requested Ferrari to inform him when he had driven dangerously, but the team declined his enquiry, stressing that they would discuss the matter after race, and, ostensibly, in private.
Vettel served his penalty and recovered to fourth, one position in front of the delayed Hamilton, extending his title advantage from 12 to 14 points.
Hamilton, for his part, directed a radio message to Charlie Whiting, insisting the sanction received by Vettel was lenient.
The post-race fallout
A furious Vettel criticised the stewards, believing that his penalty was for running into the back of Hamilton, and accused his rival of brake testing him. Vettel stated that Hamilton, too, should have been penalised, and refused to acknowledge the occurrence of the secondary incident.
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The FIA confirmed that Stewards had duly analysed the telemetry, concluding that Hamilton had driven consistently at each restart.
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Hamilton reacted with disdain towards Vettel, labelling his actions a “disgrace” and claiming that the four-time World Champion had set a bad example to any aspiring youngsters.
Few rivals commented on the incident, though race winner Daniel Ricciardo sided with Hamilton, suggesting that Vettel needed to calm down, and had been caught out.