Vettel opposes plan for penalty points

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel doesn’t support the plan to give drivers penalty points for incidents which could lead to them receiving a race ban.

“I don’t like it,” he said when asked about the proposal after qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m a little bit too old fashioned, I don’t want to make this too long but I think we had a lot of penalties in the past,” he explained.

“I think from a drivers’ point of view we’ve been pushing for penalties and right now we are probably in a situation where we have more penalties than we would like so it’s a little bit of a vicious circle.

“I think the catalogue is not released entirely. I’ve seen some sketch of it but I think you have the potential of scoring points for some things that are not entirely in our hands and small things and at the end of the day the consequence could be very big. I don’t know if that’s the idea.

“Surely, if you want to adapt a system that everybody uses on the road, which is the idea, there might be some logic behind it, but at the end of the day we are not driving on the road, we are racing.”

Under the proposal drivers would accrue penalty points in addition to the existing penalties, and would be forced to miss a race once they reach 12 points.

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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39 comments on “Vettel opposes plan for penalty points”

  1. Now some people will start opposing the penalty point system just because Vettel does not like it.. and some others will start supporting it because of the same reason :)

  2. After reading the article with all the details, i agree with him to an extent.
    A penalty points system would be a good addition but not to the extent that was proposed, i think points should be given for serious things like crashing into other drivers or “malicious” actions, but not for pit lane speeding, yellow flag mistakes, impeding and other minor things which the penalties currently given are plenty enough

    1. They already have a decent enough system in place really, they just need to expand it. Currently if you have 3 reprimands in a season you get a penalty. Why not develop that so 10 within a 30 race period leads to a ban. Just a thought.

  3. I kind of agree: I think for minor offences the current reprimand system is fine.

  4. The boys right on one thing.If one of the big points scores is for causing a collision ,It would be essential to agree on how much of a collision is a collision ,if a collision is a collision,is it a hairs breadth collision or a perhaps a more dangerous collision ,say a slight collision that causes some damage to a pirelli,Oh no! Not tyres,again.

  5. Nice one Vettel, I’d been waiting for drivers to speak up against FIA’s craziness..it’s like the penalty’s the drivers get, when they are forced to change a gearbox or engine before the minimum life, just for money saving and everything.

    On top of that, my example isn’t really the fault of the drivers , so why do they get the penalty’s for it?

  6. Even if they drop the points for things where the driver hasn’t full control. There is still the problem of inconsistencies and double standards we see frequently. I think they need to work on this before they can introduce a point system that is an additional punishment for each incident.

  7. The problem with what we have now when it comes to ‘small’ offenses is that drivers can get away with repeating the same thing over & over.

    Pit Lane speeding for example, Right now you get a fine if you speed during Practice/Qualifying & a Drive-Thru in the race.
    There are drivers out there who have broke the pit speed limit in practice repeatedly & when it comes to fines most of the time there paid by the team rather than directly out the drivers pocket so there is effectively no punishment for the driver.
    If a driver is repeatedly breaking the pit speed limit then he clearly either doesn’t care or simply isn’t learning from the past fines & in that case a penalty points system woudl get drivers to think more about sticking to the pit speed limit throughout the weekend.

    Same with things like missing the drivers briefing, If you keep doing it then clearly you don’t care & while missing the drivers briefing may not seem like a big deal there are things discussed in these meetings which drivers need to know & which needs to be listened to.

    With Yellow flags, There there for the safety of the marshal’s as well as the drivers & intentional or not failing to slow down in a yellow zone deserves a punishment.

    1. The problem with what we have now when it comes to ‘small’ offenses is that drivers can get away with repeating the same thing over & over.

      exactly that GT_racer.

  8. Surprisingly good analysis from a driver – taking both sides into account and not being provocative. Had Vettel posted this on F1Fanatic, I bet he would’ve had CotD!

    1. @hotbottoms maybe he is an avid visitor on F1fanatic with a hidden identity, possibly as an Alonso fan so we don’t suspect anything…

      1. @vettel1
        Yes, I am Sebastian. I admit.

        1. @kingshark I knew it! ;)

        2. @kingshark I would never have guessed…

          You put up half decent arguments Seb ;)

          1. @vettel1
            I could put up amazing arguments in favor of Vettel if a tried. I wasn’t a city debating champion for nothing. ;-)

            If Seb joins Ferrari one day, watch me defend him with my heart. :)

          2. @kingshark I’ve not quite reached that level (mostly because we lack a debating society in my school) but I’ve had a fair few debates with teachers, usually religious education ones ;)

  9. Zantkiller (@)
    11th May 2013, 20:29

    and right now we are probably in a situation where we have more penalties than we would like

    The only penalties which became overwhelming last year were the engine penalties.
    They should be points docked from the team and a fine(Along with anything outside the drivers control such as an unsafe release).

    1. The issue then is what fine to impose though: a €100000 fine might be play money to RBR but it could really affect Marussia.

  10. I also agree with him. I think that penalty points system is just another attempt to control the drivers in some extent.

  11. Best to speak out against the points system now, as he’ll probably get points for doing that in the future…

  12. There’s a reason why he’s been in a GPDA director role four years in a row despite being relatively quite a young driver, I guess.

  13. It’s funny vettel would oppose this

    After all his misdemeanours over the last couple of years he probably would’ve been one of the first already to have had a one race ban

    1. It’s funny you only ever pop up to whine about Vettel

      1. Because I like to respect triple world champions

        It’s hard to put vettel in the same category as Senna, Stewart, Brabham, Piquet and Lauda

        1. This thread has nothing to do with them, but like it or not, Vettel is a triple F1 world champion and therefore is in the same category. All despite being just 25 years of age.

        2. It’s actually really simple: you look at how many championships each of them has won, and you note that wow, they have each won three, as has Vettel! Although…then you notice the age at which Vettel managed to do it, and then…hmm, yeah. I see what you mean. ;-)

    2. +1, it is common that people who usually feel that they may be penalized oppose such things.

      1. @alokin why hasn’t Maldonado then?

        1. He knows he is not going score any more points i.e no point in opposing it ;)

  14. Well said Seb. I hope he
    gets more vocal and influece positively F1.

  15. Wether you like vettel or not and use this as a bias towards his comments you don’t see people like raikkonen complaining or commenting

    He just lets the racing do the talking and deals with the rules and situation

    1. That’s because he presumably hasn’t been asked about it by an interviewer, and had the article of the response published on any websites.

      And as a triple world champion, Vettel’s driving has already spoken.

  16. I agree with him to an extent. On the road you have certain rules like ‘overtake from the correct side’, ‘keep to the left/right’. In the absence of such rules in F1 its gonna be difficult for the stewards to penalise. Apart from things like pitlane speeding and yellow flag most others are difficult to judge. And why penalise the teams with points for a driver’s fault?

    1. @malleshmagdum they aren’t punishing the teams though: if the driver reaches 12 points he will serve a race ban but the car can still be entered with another driver of course.

      1. @vettel1 but by having a point reduction system, the team also loses points. Or is it that only driver’s points are deducted?

        1. @malleshmagdum No one is having any points deducted.

        2. @malleshmagdum ah I see what you’re thinking. No it’s not a points deduction, it is like penalty points on a British driver’s licence: if you get 12 of these (aren’t at all related to championship points) you get a race ban. So it’s only the drivers that are affected, not the teams!

          1. @vettel1 oh ok. Although i am aware of British system, it didnt strike my mind as we Indians dont hv such a system in place.

  17. Missing a race isn’t end of the world. You usually DNF for very small problems. So DNF for 12 penalty points – what’s the problem? If you earn the points then deal with the consequences.

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