Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Formula 1: Ferrari intend to appeal Sebastian Vettel’s win-stripping penalty

By Asher Fair

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 09: Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Scuderia Ferrari SF90 leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 09: Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Scuderia Ferrari SF90 leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Ferrari intend to appeal the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel what would have been his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel started from the pole position and led 62 of the 70 laps of the Canadian Grand Prix, the race that marked the one-third mark on the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 schedule, and he led the most important lap, lap 70. Additionally, he was never passed for the lead on the track.

However, the 31-year-old German was not classified as the winner of the race.

On lap 48, Vettel went off the track while leading between turns three and four on the 14-turn, 2.71-mile (4.361-kilometer) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and he rejoined the track right ahead of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton in second place.

More from Formula One

Hamilton had been trying to get past Vettel for several laps, but his weakness in the turn 10 hairpin and Vettel’s overall ability to defend his position prevented the 34-year-old Briton from getting the job done.

The incident involving Vettel rejoining the track and nearly sending Hamilton into the wall as a result of the fact that Vettel had nowhere else to go since he naturally intended to come back onto the track without hitting the wall himself immediately went under review.

Several laps later, Vettel was issued a five-second time penalty, so while he won the race by 1.342 seconds over Hamilton in second place, he ended up being officially scored in second a total of 3.658 seconds behind Hamilton.

Vettel refused to pull his car beside the cars of the other two podium finishes, Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc, and instead switched the “2” and “1” finishing position boards that were initially placed in front of the vacant spot that was intended for his Ferrari-powered car and Hamilton’s winning car.

But Ferrari intend to go further than simply a symbolic move that brings the crowd, Ferrari/Vettel and Mercedes/Hamilton fans alike, to their feet with a massive roar of approval in order to illustrate that Vettel did, in fact, win the race.

The Italian team have informed the FIA that they intend to appeal the penalty that cost Vettel what would have been his first victory of the season and his first victory since he won the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix late last August.

Next. Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark

Ferrari have 96 hours to gather evidence and decide whether or not they wish to pursue their appeal from the time they announced their attention to appeal yesterday evening. This matter would then be taken to a hearing of the FIA’s International Court of Appeal, although the appeal could still be ruled invalid since in-race time penalties are among the punishments issued in Formula 1 that cannot be subject to appeals. However, they are allowed to appeal the decision to review the incident itself.

Home/Formula One