Vettel handed three penalty points for Hamilton clash

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel was awarded three penalty points on his superlicense following his clash with Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

After being handed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for ‘dangerous driving’ during the race, the stewards handed Vettel a further punishment after the chequered flag.

“The Stewards examined video evidence which showed that car 5 drove alongside and then steered into car 44,” the stewards’ decision states. “The Stewards decide this manoeuvre was deemed potentially dangerous.”

The penalty does not affect the final result of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Vettel retaining his fourth place finish, nor does it affect him during the next race weekend in Austria.

Vettel now has nine currently active points on his superlicense. Any driver who reaches 12 or more in any 12 month period will receive a one race ban.

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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    Will Wood
    Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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    93 comments on “Vettel handed three penalty points for Hamilton clash”

    1. Looks like the stewards heard me after all… Justice served.

      1. Still 3 points seems too lenient for what he did. I am a Vettel fan and I know that if Hamilton had done this short of thing I would consider it to be worthy of a race ban.

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          25th June 2017, 18:59

          I really do think some people are over reacting to how much of a penalty Vettel should get. How is a gentle tap, on purpose or not at a really slow speed worthy of a race ban? 3 penalty points is more than enough. If this should get a race ban, then as there have been so many moves other drivers have done this year that have been FAR more dangerous, there will have been multiple race bans by now. Think about what Sainz did last race. He only collected 2 penalty points for causing Grosjean to take avoiding action onto the grass (twice), then because of this, he lost control and made himself and Massa retire. He also damaged Grosjean and nearly collected Alondo too. If this Vettel clash is worth of a race ban, then how have there been no others in so many years with far worse looking incidents.

          What Vettel did was idiotic and stupid, but his 10 second penalty and 3 points is plenty in my view.

          1. way to lenient – what a joke.
            Basically its says it pays to deliberately try and take someone out!

      2. Last week Kvyat received 2 penalty points for a harmless albeit stupid mistake on the starting grid. So driving like an idiot with too much boose is just one point worse? F1 Penalties are a joke. Can’t think of any reason not to give Vettel a black flag.

      3. Justice served on one side. Some people really like to cherry-pick justice and other things. How about the on-board shots showing Hamilton hit the brakes at corner exit?

        1. Because there’s no such onboard shot and the stewards cleared him of doing so.

        2. He didn’t hit the brakes, the telemetry shows that. Besides he dictates the pace under the safety car, it was up to Vettel to keep th e gap safe.

            1. I also saw this on the onboard and knew he let his trottle go so the car brakes (KERS) we saw that all so I understand Vettel is sure he got brake tested but the part after that Vettel should kept his cool and complain to the RC. They would give Lewis and penaulty for driving to slowly.

              Folks please keep in mind the stewards said the data showed no braking but we saw the brakelight on the onboard so he used his kers to brake. Seems the stewards aren’t so technical as they should be.

            2. @bobec

              You are aware that the pic you posted was during the apex at which point braking is expected?
              It was after that point that Vettel accelerated into the back of Hamilton at which point hamilton was not on the brake. You would also take note of the speed was not scrubbed off at a rapid rate. He decelerated from 66 to 51 kmh which is a total deceleration of about 9mph over about 6-7 metres! He then came off the brake and about between 5-10 metres further along the road vettel hit him. Vettel was not paying attention and was far too close.

              You would know that if you reviewed the actual footage rather than looking for incriminating screen grabs which show no context.

            3. @MacLeod

              There are no rules as to what speed the lead driver drives when the safety car is coming in. Hamilton was in charge of the pace so he could have pretty much gone at 1mph if he wanted to. It was Vettels job to stay behind hamilton just as it was hamiltons job to stay behind the safety car before the message that it was coming in. The speeds were quite normal for a safety car restart.

              Note the following link from the Bahrain GP 2017. Vettel was in charge of the safety car restart and as you can see the speeds were not far off the same bearing in mind that it is a much wider corner.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unLO4Kd-qkk

            4. @ lee1

              That’s not at the apex, it’s well after the apex. Not to mention you don’t brake for or at the apex at such corners, your line is the line that lets you accelerate as early as possible. Also, since there is braking, the speed likely drops further.

          1. If it’s Hamilton, he didn’t hit the brakes. If it was anyone else, they did hit the brakes. That’s how stewards’ decisions have been working for the past few years.

            1. @bobec Out of interest how would you get heat into your brakes if you were an F1 driver? The Telemetry shows Hamilton did no wrong. What other evidence should we use? I know, your hatred. Believe what you want. It takes all sorts to fill the world.

            2. If you are expecting charlie to give penalty to lewis you have not been watching f1. Lewis can do whatever he wants and charlie will never penalize him for anything.

            3. @Tiomkin

              By slowing down to 47kph on corner exit, I guess? Interesting, so you know me then? Yes, I have plenty of hatred for bias and double standards.

        3. He didn’t…. he didn’t accelerate like Vettel assumed he would

      4. @krichelle only 3 points and that’s justice? the guy got away with it… not only finished ahead of Hamilton but also those 3 points are basically meaningless.

        Sainz got 3 points AND 3 places on the grid for the next race for something that was bascially a bad judged racing move. Sebastian deliberately steered towards another driver and he only gets this?

        Completely ridiculous if you ask me. He’s the most sucessful driver out there in terms of World Championship and he’s also leading this season, they should draw a line… It should be an example of what not to do and what you suffer if you do…

      5. Justice served? He should be benched for a race to watch what he was doing on repeat. Maybe intermingled with other obvious cases of road rage that caused horrible accidents (sometimes even at low speeds).

        Even almost an hour after the race he still kept ignoring what he had done, that he had deliberately hit another driver out of rage. To me it is a continuation of him losing control in other races (many last year) where it stopped at bad language. Now he went a step further. He needs someone to sit him down and have a good talk with him. Shame Marko was too starry eyes with him at Red Bull and STR, he would have been a good one to do the job. But he didn’t then, and Vettel still suffers from it. He needs to learn to control his anger, this has no place anywhere near a racing track. And even less IN a car.

      6. Vettel should have been disqualified and should not be allowed the points for this race. His attitude was equivalent of road rage and it is criminal in society. He showed an obvious lack of maturity by reacting like a bully. F1 authorities open the door to personal vendetta on the race track by punishing Vettel so lightly. His infantile reaction will cost Vettel a great lost of respect from fans who watched the race!

    2. Slap on the wrist for the FERRARI driver

      1. A slap on the wrist for the Ferrari pep talk they were no doubt responding to.
        This should hopefully deter any similar strategies.

        Its just a shame the gravity of the incident wasn’t recognised when it occurred.
        Any other driver or team would have felt the full weight of the stewards.

        1. @ajaxn thats true

    3. Pretty token gesture for VET, his reactions post race says it all, denial of the 2nd incident that he intentionally bumped wheels, disgraceful as an example for lower categories.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOzjPCDK9AM

      1. And how do you know it was intentional? Are you God?

        1. Uhhh…are you blind? Pulling up alongside HAM, then turning the car into him? How does one not “deliberately” do that? What, he sneezed, stomped on the throttle, then turned the wheel to wipe his arrogant nose? Give me a break.

          1. He let go off the steering wheel so he could gesticulate. It’s not that difficult to lose track of what the car is doing. And why would he hit him intentionally and risk a puncture? On SKy they said they thought he was trying to get close and lost it in his excitement.

            1. So if you let go of a steering wheel your car swerves to the right does it. Just admit it Vettel was in the wrong.

            2. @Rich Vettel was in the wrong for trying to do whatever he tried to do and he did deserve some kind of punishment. What I’m saying is 1) it didn’t have to be intentional (and likely wasn’t); 2) Hamilton was exonerated from the brake-testing allegations despite on-board shots showing he was slowing down and hitting the brakes at corner exit.

            3. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130388/fia-data-rules-out-hamilton-brake-test
              According to stewards, not a brake test.
              I think VET was simply a bit too close on corner entry, thus mid corner as well and exit, from the Force India, you could see that view, and also the distance the force india had to the two infront.

              VET & HAM are undoubtedly two of the best drivers, not only currently but historically within F1, I think it’s a little naive not to concede that VET turned into HAM to bang wheels during a heated moment where he thought he was brake checked.
              However the post race interviews and comments are a little concerning, VET denying both the intent & action of his reaction; disappointing behaviour not to at least admit the 2nd incident.

            4. bobec i agree with you Vetel was holding the wheel with his right hand and as he was gesturing and coming around Ham the car was still pointing to the right that is how they collided. the brake testing was don deliberate
              with the help of KERS this is one of the comments that was posted that i like

              “If you are expecting charlie to give penalty to lewis you have not been watching f1. Lewis can do whatever he wants and charlie will never penalize him for anything.”

      2. Should have got a one race ban – intentional road rage incidents – even at low speed behind the safety car should not be tolerated.

      3. Have a look at Buxton interviewing him – from about minute 13 onward – https://youtu.be/OvTO3BlDnEE He has clearly admitted of doing it on purpose. And keeps acting as if he hardly hit Hamilton’s car and it was not a big deal.

    4. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      25th June 2017, 19:04

      Hmm I think this would have been 6pts had Seb not have had 6 on his license already. When you think Lewis got 3 for reversing 20cm in the pitlane last year this feels very lenient for what I consider could the worst crime in motorsport. I would hate for this to affect a good championship battle but that red mist Seb can show makes me very uncomfortable. Like Mexico last year when he veered into Ricciardo when fuming and completely lost it on the radio. What a great race though for drama. I would like to see the kerbs at the first couple of corners revised, it wasn’t great to cars on the inside thrown wide.

      1. I completely agree @rdotquestionmark

        Irrespective of the crime or punishment
        I think the stewards are too scared to interfere in the championship battle.
        In the race it took forever (including the duration of the red flag period) to make up their minds and only issued a stop/go after it became apparent Hamilton had to stop. Too convenient.

        If it had been Palmer or Kvyat or Magnussen, that would have been an instant penalty and 6 points.

        Again 3 points means that ultimately unless Vettel does something really bad in Austria, the points will be almost meaningless (aren’t they always) as he’ll have a set of three points from last year cleared off his licence soon.

        The whole penalty points thing is meaningless without some greater degree of fair enforcement. You can’t just say 3 points, 3 points, 3 points, each time someone does anything. It needs some more perception of punishment fitting the crime in a proportional way.

        1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
          25th June 2017, 22:07

          Yes I do think the stewards bottled it @eurobrun . He may have gotten away with it today but legacies are tainted with moments like this and Seb has lost a lot of respect today in the motorsport community. I was very disappointed he ignored the issue as if it was nothing as well. You could see on his face he was worried afterwards when the red flag was out about what he’d done. I was even more astonished that he pretended he couldn’t understand what his penalty was for on the radio as well. Integrity is a big part of a sportman’s legacy, even some big Seb fans are very disappointed today.

        2. +1 My thoughts indeed.

    5. It shouldn’t be a 3 points penalty, but rather a ban for 3 races. What he did today was unacceptable and he’s VERY lucky Hamilton didn’t DNF because of the collision, it would’ve made the stewards much more harsh.

    6. I like Vettel, but he lost his cool today. He lost the race due to his own errors. He deserved a black flag and/or a race ban. No excuse for that kind of behavior.

    7. Today Vettel elevated himself from being a driver I support because he is drving for Ferrari, to being my favourite of the whole grid! The guy has a fight in him! He has had enough with others ruining his races, was it unsportsmanlike? Yes it would be against sir Stirling Moss but it is not against Hamilton and his dirty tricks. People have short memories and forget what Hamilton did to Ricciardo in Bahrain or Massa so many times in 2011 or how he lied in Australia 2009 or how many times pushed Rosberg wide at the starts… In all reality it was an extreme antic by Vettel but by no means dangerous, Vettel reacted because he felt he had another race compromised due to damage, Verstappen did it so many times, Bottas’ clumsy starts ruined 2 races for Raikkonen in Spain and here and both of these guys never get punished. And Vettel is the villain for getting his elbows out and barely touching Hamilton.

      1. @philby – Too bad for Vettel that the best revenge for a perceived wrong would have been to win the race. Which he likely would have done without the penalty as a result of his own behavior.

        As close as the WDC is this season he may look back on this and rue the moment he threw away valuable championship points by his impetuous action.

      2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        26th June 2017, 10:22

        Bottas didn’t do anything wrong in Spain. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t get left space. He broke early and if anything, it was just the gap that there were 3 cars there and it was just 2 tight. It was a raci8ng incident. Bottas ran out of space. It simply wasn’t clumsy. The rules have said that if one driver is obviously at fault, a penalty will be given. Bottas was partly to blame here in Baku but I can’t say he deserved a penalty. He braked early again, which I don’t see much wrong with as braking later has often resulted in contact and penalties in the past for him and other drivers. He braked and Raikonnen was along site. As he described, he was didn’t have much space, so he had to drive over the kerb. It unfortunately made him loose control. The stewards didn’t think it was enough for a penalty so it can’t have been anything that bad. He made a brilliant recovery from it though.

    8. While I understand Vettel’s frustration, as he damaged his front wing in the accident, this was a bit too much video game-like. One such mistake and he might be the first driver since Grosjean to receive a race ban, which is something this title battle doesn’t need. Funnily enough, if he’d kept his cool, he would have won the race easily (as whatever damage to the front wing would have been repaired during the race stoppage).

    9. I’m sorry, but why does Hamilton have a “superior” status above everyone else?

      The data AND onboard footage clearly showed that was driving through the corner not going any slower than 80 kph and right after the corner he braked (black smoke from brakes visible) and dropped to 53 kph.

      It’s way too obvious that Hamilton is playing dangerous and dirty games, just like he did last year even in the final race holding everyone up. What he does might not always be a direct offence of the F1/FIA rulebook, but he is stretching the limits of what is acceptable and today has crossed it.

      Last year Lewis already lost my sympathy, but today he lost my respect as well. What a dirty driver. Add to that he wanted to hold everyone up in order to get Bottas at the back of the pack AND he requested the team Bottas should hold Vettel up, while it was clear from the final result Bottas had everything to go for P2 AND he directly commented to Charlie Whiting that he didn’t think a 10 second stop/go penalty was enough. Who does he think he is? He should let his performance do the talking, not all these dirty (mind) games and trying to win in an unsportsmanlike manner like he’s doing the last year or so. Frankly, his performance is good enough to not be needing this, but he still does it. Take an example from Alonso, he drove to an 8th place which McLaren-Honda wouldn’t deserve purely based on performance, but he doesn’t resort to this kind of disrespectful behaviour towards his fellow sportsmen.

      Due to Hamilton F1 is becoming more like football where the referee (race control/Charlie Whiting) is getting cursed at (I’m talking to you, Seb) or at least disrespected (Lewis) and there less and less overall respect and sportsmanship to be found. As a last example also see the drivers comments about Sainz’ Canada crash in which a couple of them said a grid penalty wasn’t enough.

      Although I see lots of good stuff since the Liberty Media takeover, I’m afraid this’ll get worse and worse. I just hope the British people like Ross Brawn and Charlie Whiting show some backbone and tell the drivers to show some respect and sportsmanship. Take tennis or hockey as an example. The referee is respected, his decisions are accepted as they are and otherwise there is a video time-out possible. No discussions, just requests.

      I know character and adrenaline are part of what makes you human, but this isn’t about that. Character and adrenaline is what I see in Fernando, Max, Daniel, Kimi, Sergio and the likes. Not in Sebastian or Lewis anymore I’m afraid.

      1. Dude.. TV graphics is not always in sync.. Stewards checked Lewis’s telemetry and cleared him of any wrong doing (brake-testing). Just remove your hater glasses and check facts.

      2. HAM 10 seconds penalty
        VET a race ban and Black flag.
        About right.

      3. “The data AND onboard footage clearly showed that was driving through the corner not going any slower than 80 kph and right after the corner he braked (black smoke from brakes visible) and dropped to 53 kph.”

        The stewards cleared Ham of any wrongdoing based on their data, care to share with us what data you’ve seen that’s different to theirs?

      4. Seriously? It’s amazing that Alonso is allowed to come near Formula 1 after blackmailing his team boss to get preferential treatment!!!

      5. I’m sorry, but why does Hamilton have a “superior” status above everyone else?

        His obnoxiousness status is not just superior, it is superhuman

    10. Utterly unacceptable, both Vettels action and the stewards reaction. Instant disqualification is the absolute least a driver should expect for an obviously deliberate crash.
      I love the “brake test” defence. Hamilton did slow, yes… But by a few kph, certainly not enough to indicate braking of any kind. The initial impact was caused by Vettel accelerating and Hamilton backing off to take the restart.

      But whatever the cause of him driving into the back of Hamilton, driving alongside and deliberately crashing into a rival is utterly unacceptable and deserves a proper punishment.

      I like the lenient approach to racing incidents this year, but this was not a racing incident. This was deliberate and deserves at the very least a disqualification, and ideally a race ban as well.

    11. I like Vet. Vet saw red mist. He should have had 1 race ban – no question. Shame he fails to acknowledge his behaviour. Lost my respect. Deffo no fault of Ham.

      1. After Vet got the message about the penalty did he even remember side-swiping another competitor? He even acted as if everyone was talking about rear-ending Ham was the “dangerous driving” everyone was going on about.

        Red mist, yeah. Should we count ourselves lucky Vet didn’t throw his helmet at Ham ( NASCAR style)?

        I agree about a race ban. I would be content if he lost driver championship points.

        1. Even more direct questioning after the race lead him to completely ignore driving in to the side of hamilton… It is very strange behaviour as you would at least expect him to come out and say that bit was a complete accident… The fact that he has ignored it seems to me like someone hiding from his temper.

    12. I am a long term Vettel fan but was angry at his loss of control today. Yes, Hamilton did brake suddenly but that was because he was wary of the safety car on this awkward track and wanted to warm his tyres. I do not believe that Hamilton “brake-tested” Vettel because something like that could easily have caused a rear puncture to the Mercedes. Vettel was keeping too close to Hamilton to get a good restart after the safety car and it all went wrong from there. It was a momentary red mist but that sort of thing should definitely be punished and the penalties during and after the race were justified.

      1. Maybe You don’t think HAM brake tested Vettel, but all evidence is present: Blue smoke from his left rear and speed decreasing a lot. According to the rules it isn’t allowed and I don’t know why Ham didn’t get a penalty for it, because brake testing like that with the whole pack right behind is much more dangerous, than what Vettel did to Hamilton as a consequence at very low speed. Come on, seriously, was it dangerous? If Hamilton thought it was dangerous, than he wouldn’t drive F1 at all. It could have ruined his race, but he had ruined Vettels race, if it wasn’t for the later stoppage making it possible for Vettel to have a new front wing. I think Hamilton’s trick was very dirty, unworthy of him and unnecessary – he should be able to win that race without it, and he has been in conflict with the rules of good conduct under the safety car before – he hasn’t learned from it, and Vettel hasn’t learned to hold his temper.

        1. Paul Thomson
          25th June 2017, 20:46

          Im assuming nobody believed the stewards decision that Hamilton didn’t brake test? As that would involve him hitting the brakes despite the stewards looking at telemetry and finding NO evidence at all he did hit the brakes.

          1. Kers can brake too!! if the stewards said he didn’t use his brakes then it was that because no one can say he didn’t slowed down. Lewis did slowdown we all saw it behind and the onboard.

            1. I agree that the braking could well have been kers generation. However vettel should have anticipated that and also vettel did not hit hamilton until a little further down the road.

        2. “Blue smoke from his left rear and speed decreasing a lot” Really have you got any footage of that as I have watched it about 20-30 times and have not seen any blue smoke. (Blue smoke is only generated by tire lock ups – or oil in the combustion chamber- and that definitely did not happen). Oh and if you think scrubbing 9 mph over 6-7 metres on the apex is a huge decrease of speed then you really need to watch another sport…

          Lets not even mention the fact that Vettel hit him about 10 metres after his cars brakes were released…

    13. I am a Ferrari fan, not really a Vettel fan but I support him while he drives for the reds. To me, that kind of conduct should result in an immediate black flag, I don’t know how the stewards let this pass.

      If the crash was only a little bigger, it could destroy half the field as close as they are before a restart.

    14. BBC are stating that “The stewards examined data from his car and found that he had maintained a more or less constant speed, had not lifted off the throttle or braked, and had behaved no differently at that re-start at that point on the track than at the other two re-starts.”

      So if that’s true I’m not sure why everyone is still referring to Hamilton slowing deliberately. Vettel was too just close, perhaps to avoid being dropped again like Hamilton had done after the previous safety car.

      I have a lot of respect for Vettel, especially since his growth at Ferrari but this is disappointing and poorly handled by the stewards.

      1. Yup, this is a weird one. The onboard graphics clearly show that Hamilton slows down from around 80kph to a bit under 60kph. Maybe the FIA considers this “more or less constant speed” but as an armchair expert, the speed certainly went down instead of remaining constant. Or maybe the FIA has some strange tolerances like Malaysia 1999 :P

        1. @kaiie, the argument is that Hamilton slowed down to take the corner, at which point he maintained a similar speed through it. I believe that there is some question over how accurate the graphical overlay that is provided on the TV feed actually is – I don’t think that it has a direct link to the onboard telemetry systems, such as the throttle linkage or braking system, whilst it has to be said that there had been problems with the GPS traces over the weekend (for example, at one point earlier in the race those same telemetry systems were wrongly indicating that Magnussen had stopped on track).

          1. I’m wondering what the argument would be for Hamilton brake testing Vettel on purpose causing Vettel to crash into the rear of his race leading car risking puncture or possible race ending damage to his own (Hamilton’s) car?

            After all, Vettel leads in the WDC points race. Hamilton needs to score more points in every race to gain on Vettel and try to pass him in the standings. How does putting his own car at risk of damage while leading a race help Hamilton?

          2. The on screen graphics literally only yesterday showed Vettel as being in 2 different positions during qualification. There is absolutely no argument for trusting them.

        2. 2 things. As others have said the telemetry on screen is not necessarily that reliable (did you see the car markers glitching around the track on the on screen map?). The telemetry that the stewards have is accurate and precise and they also have a lot more information to look at (like brake peddle travel, steering inputs, accelerator travel, kers generation etc). Yes hamilton slowed through the corner as he is entitled to do. However the speed decrease was smooth and constant so there was no sudden braking. Also vettel hit hamilton about 10m down the road from where the brakes were released.

          Vettel was simply not concentrating enough and made a mistake. This is fine and everyone can live with that as mistakes happen when driving complex race cars on cold tyres with cold brakes that only operate at high temps. If that had been all that happened then no one would be bothered. However he then blames hamilton and not only that for some reason thinks it is ok to to pull alongside and side swipe hamilton! That is just not the sort of behaviour I would expect from a professional sports person. I would fully expect it from some of the thugs you meet on the road from time to time, but not from a 4 time WDC!

      2. Fake news.

    15. The stewards should release the data for the public to see. Looks like it is a cover up – to me karma.
      More than this – Bottas should be given points and ban – it’s not the first time, he has no sense of braking

    16. Vettel used his car as a weapon and I think Vetttel fans should not deny that. It would be disingenuous. What is in question though is whether the penalty was harsh enough to prevent similar actions in future. I have to say I was shocked by his actions. The rest is up to stewards.

    17. The action was very stupid and pointless. Frustration is clear but such an experienced driver should be able to keep his emotions in check.

      I didn’t see it as Vettel wanting to drive into Hamilton. It was getting next to to show his frustration but then with one hand out and head looking to the right he drove into Hamilton. So it was definitely dangerous driving and both the in race penalty and points afterwards fully justified.

      I like Vettel but you expect a lot more from a 4 time champion. As someone said before if he had kept his cool, how the race panned out he would have won it easily. Again as someone else said he might come to rue this loss of control.

    18. IMO the race stewards are not the people to judge this. Should be referred on for further sanctions.
      Deliberately hitting a fragile car towards a concrete wall is extremely serious and dangerous – heavy penalties should be in place.
      Reacting angrily to something that happened on track in this way is totally unacceptable – as is the frequent bad language that these role models use at every race

    19. 3 points for Vettel is a complete joke…….he should be sitting out the next race as punishment and a warning to others what happens when you use your car as a weapon…..what if he had put Hamilton out of the race?? and what if they were at speed when he tried that?? Its ok you just get a stop go and 3 points..
      The stewards should hang their heads in shame
      Even the great Senna got disqualified when he took Prost out and continued quite a few years back

    20. If you watch every race there are drivers that are using their cars to clear others from the grid. Lewis gets away with murder….we don’t care who he things he is, he’s an awful teammate and a cry baby! Charlie changes the penalty because Lewis cries….then everyone should cry. The red cars seem to be targets lately. What has Bottas gotten as penalties he’s hit a Ferrari in how many recent races? Even Kimi made radio comment about that. What has Verstappen gotten for his bashing of others cars? Keep the rules the same for all. You can see from Sebs on board that he did not turn the steering wheel…the contact was not deliberate! Look again.

      1. Hang on, So Ferrari F1 cars lurch violently to the right if you take one hand off the steering wheel? So are the drivers constantly fighting this major issue during the race? If so then there is a significant safety issue with Ferraris cars and they should be banned from racing until it is fixed!

        Or vettel steered into hamilton…

        Now do I think he meant to hit him? Possibly not or at the very least wanted to just touch wheels. Did he accidentally steer too much towards him? Possibly… However did he turn the wheel? well unless the Ferrari has the issue I tongue in cheek stated above then yes of course he did.

    21. Vettel and Hamilton both idiots. Only reason I am glad Vettel beat Hamilton today was that he was driving a Ferrari. Hamilton was bad and has history of doing this but Vettel was dumb. Both showing their horrible sides maybe this is why they are the 2 most succesful current drivers, showing the devil in them like Schumacher and the ultimate filth Senna have in the past.

    22. I think if the move from Vettel was intentional that should be DSQ. But his hands are (at least one of them is) not even on the steering wheel. It’s definitely dangerous driving and dangerous driving deserves to be punished harshly. But I don’t think an unintentional move like that should be what DSQ is about. And before anyone disagrees, yes, intention is VERY important. It makes the difference between murder and manslaughter…

      1. It’s pretty obvious that Vettel did it intentionally. He probably didn’t expect to bump him quite as much as he did, but he certainly meant to make wheel to wheel contact with Hamilton. He was in complete control over the car with his right hand on the steering wheel. If Hamilton can drive at 200 mph with one hand holding his cockpit protection on, i’m sure Vettel can manage to drive one handed at 30mph without losing control.

    23. It was entertaining. This is what formula 1 used to be – drivers and machines having issues. That is really what made F1 more interesting in past years because races were less predictable. There was no real danger here. it was completely wheel to wheel and the suspensions are quite strong and it was low speed. Stupid – yes. Dangerous? not really. Anyways – on to the next race.

    24. So Vettel would have to drive quite carefully in Austria to avoid the one-race ban. However, 2 of his penalty points expire after the Austrian GP, so if he can keep his cool in the next race he’ll be down to a relatively safe position soon enough.

    25. I think many commentators are getting a bit carried away – not unlike Vettel. Many talk about Vettel crashing into Hamilton. Well, there was no such thing. The two cars bumped wheels. Bumped wheels happen a lot in F1 and often they are not even investigated, including cases when one driver runs another out of the track, quite a few drivers including Hamilton benefiting from stewards’ leniency in recent years.

      So let’s drop the discussion what is a proper punishment for crashing deliberatedly into another driver. What is the proper punishment for bumping wheels? And do we actually know for sure that it was deliberate, given that at the time Vettel was gesticulating like a madman, driving with at most one hand?

      Some people draw on football for comparison, talking of a red card for Vettel. For a crash – definitely yes. But for bumping wheels? How many times did we see a football player who felt he was being wronged and “ïncidentally” bumped shoulders with the (allegedly) offending party as they passed each other, to make him know what he thinks about it? And what was the typical punishment? Usually they got off with an oral reprimand from a referee or no reaction at all.
      Based on what actually happened, I think that the punishment for Vettel was not unreasonable.
      But that does not mean that Vettel did not behave like an idiot. I suspect that there are quite a few people who think less of him now, myself included.

      1. Hamilton drove with one hand at about 200mph during that race without violently lurching across the track! So are you saying that vettel is such a poor driver that he can’t control his car at 30-40 with one hand? Also if this is indeed what happened then why has he not come out and said as such? He has completely ignored it despite it being quite a big issue? How easy would it be for him to say “sorry, I lost control of my car and hit hamilton, that was not what I meant to do”?

    26. 3 points for what? Total joke, he did nothing wrong

    27. Part of Vettel’s punishment should be an anger management road rage course.

    28. I believe the stewards said that Lewis did nothing out of the ordinary, i.e he did exactly the same thing that he had done before, yes he probably did brake but not after a large acceleration. He did not brake from high speed and slowed by around 15mph on the apex of a corner, if this is brake testing then I do that in my road car everyday but I don’t get shunted! Vettel got caught out, simple as that, there is no great conspiracy either way. Vettel should have got either a significant grid drop or DQ from the race, remembering that previous drivers have had grid penalties for “causing avoidable collisions” and if this wasn’t avoidable then I don’t know what is!

    29. Road rage pure and simple. A deliberate act of aggression. 3 point penalty? Come on guys that just isn’t credible. A dark day for F1

    30. it is fun to read what all of the “Experts” have to say above.

      The Experts are the Stewards, they have access to all onboard footage, telemetry etc. I suspect the Ferarri penalty for his actions will be the most entertaining. If Ves can get out of his Red Bull contract I suspect Ferarri will not renew Vet. Giving away that many points and the bad publicity won’t be good for Vet.

    31. It’s hilarious to see NASCAR used as an insult in every thread on this website.

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