10/06/2019
NEWS STORY
Ferrari has notified the FIA that it intends appealing against the Canadian GP stewards decision that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in Montreal.
The stewards, who include five-time Le Mans winner, and former F1 driver, Emanuele Pirro, deemed that Vettel left the track at Turn 3 and rejoined at Turn 4 in an unsafe manner and forced Lewis Hamilton off track, causing the world champion to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Handing Vettel a 5s time penalty which was to cost him the race, they also awarded him 2 points on his licence, thereby bringing his 12 month total to 7.
Several hours after the end of the race, the Italian team notified the FIA that it intends appealing the decision, and now has 96 hours in which to decide whether to proceed or not.
If it does opt to proceed with the appeal, it would either be heard by the FIA's International Court of Appeal or the court could simply decide that the appeal is inadmissible, in-race time penalties usually considered to be among the punishments that cannot be appealed.
The penalty has split the sport, with drivers, team bosses, media and fans clearly divided, with many saying it was a racing incident while others argue that Vettel made a mistake and the punishment was justified.
"It's sad," said Jenson Button, a former winn in Montreal. "It's disappointing when there's a proper fight on out on track between two great, multiple world champions, and then the stewards are able to come in and take that away from us viewers, It's a shame. For me, it's a racing incident.
"Yes, Seb made a mistake," he admitted, "but you've got to realise he's doing over 100 mph here, you can't just stop the car and stay off the circuit. He's had a snap, come back, and it doesn't deserve a penalty for me, personally. I don't think. But it's a regulation, and they're decided to take it.
"On a circuit like this, it's so narrow, like a street circuit, these cars are massive," he continued. "You end up over that part of the circuit, you don't chose to be there. Seb doesn't want to crash into Lewis either. It's a toughie, and it's sad to see Lewis on the podium, he obviously wants to win, but not like that. He drove a stonker of a race, and pushed him into a mistake. But he couldn't capitalise his position on the circuit, in the way that I think racing should be. Which is a shame. It's a bit of a sour taste in the mouth actually, after such a great race."