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

Ferrari have officially appealed the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, which would have been his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season.

Scuderia Ferrari revealed their intention to appeal the five-second time penalty that cost four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix shortly after the race, and now they have officially done so.

Vettel won this 70-lap race around the 14-turn, 2.71-mile (4.361-kilometer) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by 1.342 seconds over Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton in second place.

But it was Hamilton who was classified as the official winner of the race by 3.658 seconds over the 31-year-old German.

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Vettel had to settle for a second place finish, just over one second ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc on the timing sheets, instead of what would have been his first victory since he won the Belgian Grand Prix last August as a result of the fact that the race stewards deemed his reentry onto the track “unsafe” after he went through the grass between turns three and four on lap 48.

Vettel came back onto the track still trying to regain control of his car so that he did not hit the outside wall in turn four. He managed to do so without hitting the wall while causing Hamilton to brake in the process, but the cars of the two drivers never made contact and neither one gained an advantage over the other.

Here is what Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto had to say about the matter, according to Ferrari.

"“At the moment, we, as a team, are naturally disappointed, but most of all our thoughts are with Sebastian and the spectators. As for Seb, I don’t think he could have done things differently, which is why we have decided to appeal the stewards’ decision.”"

Here is what Vettel had to say about it, according to Ferrari.

"“I think we had a great race and the stewards’ decision is too harsh. In turn 3, I lost control of my car and I had to run long onto the grass, rejoining at turn 4 ahead of Lewis. I couldn’t see where he was, as I was too busy trying to keep my car on track without crashing and I didn’t squeeze him on purpose.“I think given the way things went this weekend and even though our rivals’ race pace was very strong, we deserved the win, and I get the impression that lots of the spectators here today at the circuit agree with me. It’s always nice to race in Canada, I feel a lot of support from the people and it would have been wonderful to have given all our fans the first big result of the season.”"

While this appeal will likely not result in the FIA overturning their ruling and Lewis Hamilton will likely keep his Canadian Grand Prix victory over Sebastian Vettel, it will not change the fact that an overwhelming majority of Formula 1 fans, even Mercedes/Hamilton fans, feel that Vettel and Ferrari were robbed, and justifiably so.