Sebastian Vettel penalized, loses podium to Daniel Ricciardo

The celebration was therefore short-lived: just as he was as happy as if he had won, Sebastian Vettel then lost the benefit of his race by receiving a penalty himself. Indeed, he had managed to get Max Verstappen penalized by five seconds for going off track at the first corner while the German driver was very insistent on overtaking him. Faced with the Dutchman’s refusal to give up his position, Sebastian Vettel once again was very vocal on the radio, particularly towards Charlie Whitting, the race director.

He justified his attack on Max Verstappen as follows: « We were faster. We put Verstappen under pressure. Obviously, it’s not easy to overtake, but he made a mistake, cut the track, and did not give back his position as he was asked. »

Conversely, the young Red Bull driver considered his penalty unjust since he believes he made the same maneuver as Lewis Hamilton did on the first lap for which the Briton wasn’t punished: « When I went off the track, it was quite similar to Lewis at the first corner. He went off and I felt he gained an advantage. I didn’t even gain an advantage. I went off while braking and when I returned to the track, I had the same lead. So, I don’t understand the penalty. »

But once down from the podium, the Ferrari driver’s troubles with the stewards were not over, as this time it was the second Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo, who lodged a complaint against his former teammate’s strong defense in the penultimate lap.

In front of the press, the Australian did not hide his anger as he believed that Sebastian Vettel was guilty of exactly what Max Verstappen was criticized for during the Japanese Grand Prix, namely changing direction while braking.

The stewards sided with Red Bull and thus handed a 10-second penalty to Sebastian Vettel, which relegates him to 5th position, behind Max Verstappen. While he could only accept such a sanction in view of the telemetry data and video footage, he believed he was in the right: « Regarding the battle with Daniel, I have a lot of respect for him. It’s never ideal to make contact. In my defense, I was fighting hard and trying to give him some space, which I think I did. »

Obviously, Daniel Ricciardo did not have the same opinion on the same subject since he was simply asking for the implementation of the regulation that was passed at the pilots’ request: « The race must be tough and I don’t expect to be let through. But we have talked about changes of direction while braking and it is now on paper. »

Not sure if F1 will gain much in terms of image. But the law is the law…