Ferrari boss says “We won today” and the F1 team elects to appeal the penalty; Vettel shows antics after the race
On Lap 48 of the Canadian Grand Prix, the race was on for the lead. Heading into a chicane, race leader Sebastian Vettel lost the rear end.
Watch the Sebastian Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton race in Canada below.
Vettel chased the car through the grass as he cut the chicane short. Hamilton closed quickly and was looking to the outside off the corner.
As Vettel re-entered the track, Hamilton was alongside. Vettel moved all the way across the track and forced Hamilton to jump on the brakes to avoid a collision.
Vettel went on to win the Canadian Grand Prix. It marked the first win of 2019 for the Scuderia Ferrari team.
But it wasn’t, FIA officials handed a 5 second penalty to Vettel for the move. As a result, Lewis Hamilton was declared the race winner. That gave Hamilton his 5th win of 2019.
“No guys. Not like that. No, no, no,” Vettel said via the team radio after the race.
After the race, Vettel refused to park his Ferrari next to the Mercedes on the pit lane. He then climbed from his car and swapped out the 1st place billboard that was placed in front of the Mercedes. He grabbed that on put it in front of his own car.
Sebastian Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton
Sebastian Vettel : “It’s not making our sport popular with these kind of decisions. People want to see us race and that was racing. It is a shame when we have all these funny decisions.
“I was trying to survive, to keep the car on track. I came from the grass, the tires were dirty and I was fighting to get back on line and get control back of the car.”
“Don’t know what I can do differently. It is a very short time. I lost the rear on entry, I had to make the correction and I sailed through the grass.”
“I was lucky not to spin, once I regained control I had a look in the mirror and Lewis was right behind me. And I was lucky he did not try to go on the inside and just drive past me,” Vettel concluded.
Lewis Hamilton : “Ultimately the rules say when you go off you have to come back on in a safe manner and I was alongside and I had to back off to avoid a collision and I guess that’s why they made the decision.”
Scuderia Ferrari reacts to 5 second penalty
Mattia Binotto (Scuderia Ferrari Principal) : “It’s not down to us to decide and that’s the sport,” said Binotto. “But certainly, if you look at the crowd, everybody seems to believe that there was nothing else that Sebastian could have done in that situation.”
“I don’t think he had any bad intention in what he was doing at all. He stayed ahead the entire race, he took the checkered flag first. For us, he is the moral winner and it’s more important for us that, as a team, we have proved that we can still be competitive.”
In race calls can not be appealed.
“You cannot,” said Binotto. “You cannot because it is their decision, but I think we need to look at all of the data ourselves to make a proper decision on this.
“We won today. I think honestly, we have been the fastest on track today and that is important.”
However, after the race Ferrari notified the FIA of their intentions to appeal the call anyway. The team notified fans via a team release:
“At the moment, we, as a team, are naturally disappointed, but most of all our thoughts are with Sebastian and the spectators.”
“As for Seb, I don’t think he could have done things differently, which is why we have decided to appeal the Stewards’ decision.”
“We leave Canada knowing that today, as indeed over the whole weekend, we proved we were competitive and that fact has been a confidence booster for the whole team.”
Sebastian Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton
Canadian Grand Prix
Video
Links
Sebastian Vettel | Lewis Hamilton | Scuderia Ferrari | Mercedes F1 | Canadian Grand Prix | F1
