10/06/2019
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel is no closer to understanding why the race stewards in Canada hit him with a five second penalty.
"You need to be an absolute blind man to think you can go through the grass and then control the car," said the German at the end of today's race over the team radio. "I was lucky I didn't hit the wall. Where the hell am I supposed to go? This is a wrong world I tell you. This is not fair."
Told by his engineer to stay calm, the German replied: "I am not staying calm. This is not fair. It is not fair. I'm angry and I have the right to be angry. I don't care what people say."
Initially seeking to confront the stewards he subsequently headed to the Ferrari motorhome, intending to miss the podium ceremony but was eventually persuaded by the team's press officer to attend.
Striding down the pitlane, arriving underneath the podium, he took the '1' marker in front of Lewis Hamilton's car and placed it in the spot where his car should have been parked.
On the podium, as fans booed Hamilton, Vettel was clearly not happy, calling on the crowd not to boo the world champion.
"The people shouldn't boo at Lewis," he said. "He saw what was going on, but people shouldn't boo at Lewis. If anything they should boo at these funny decisions."
When subsequently asked to explain the incident at the chicane, he replied: "Well, I lost the rear of the car, so obviously it wasn't voluntarily going sailing across the track, not knowing how and in which fashion and so on I will be rejoining.
"I think it is pretty clear I was on the limit," he continued. "I was pushing very hard throughout the entire race and... Obviously I was going through the grass and I think it's quite commonly known that the grass isn't very grippy. And then I was coming back on track and just trying to, y'know, make sure I have the car under control.
"Once I regained control, made sure it was sort-of alright, I looked in the mirrors, and saw Lewis right behind me.
"As you said, yesterday we had the euphoria and the enthusiasm of a great day. I feel, in a way, the same today. I think we had a great race, the team did fantastic and, yeah, obviously I'm not happy with the decision the stewards took. I think you can understand. It feels a bit weird to sit here, not having won the race even though you crossed the line first. As I said, I don't think I have done anything wrong; I don't feel I could have done anything different. I don't know, actually, what the problem was. So... not much more to say, I think, from my point of view. I think all the people out there, they probably agree with me."
Asked if he was aware of Hamilton as he rejoined the track, he said: "I've got two hands and I had them on the steering wheel, trying to keep the car under my control. So, I don't know... I think we are pretty good at multi-tasking, driving these cars – but if it is required to drive... to catch the car once you come back from the grass or off the track, maybe one-handed, use the other hand to pull off a tear-off and maybe hit the radio button to talk to the team at the same time, I don't qualify, I can't do that.
"I had, as I said, my hands full, trying to keep the car somewhere in my control. Obviously I knew that Lewis was behind somewhere because he was, like, a second behind, but when I looked in the mirror he was right there. So I was obviously then racing him down to Turn Six."
Still the questions continued... his frustration clearly growing.
"I think it was clear what happened," he replied. "I mean, what's the point of going through split-seconds for an hour now? With all the respect, there's nothing to add from what I said.
"You lose the car, I don't do that voluntarily because the outcome is unpredictable. Once I manage to catch the car, obviously I realise that I couldn't stay on track, couldn't keep the car on track, slowed down, had to slow down, go over the grass really cautiously, lost a lot of time. I managed to get back on track with dirty tyres, and once I regained, sort of, control, being somewhere on the track, I had to check my mirrors and Lewis was right behind me, just to see where he is, not to, I don't know, be in his way or whatever.
"So, that's what happened. I'm not the first guy in the world of racing that had a mistake on corner entry and had to catch the car going through the grass, gravel or whatever."