Formula 1: FIA set dangerous precedent with Sebastian Vettel penalty

While the 2019 Formula 1 season has lacked competition in some areas, the Canadian Grand Prix provided a hotbed of drama and a dangerous precedent.

As many Formula 1 fans watched a rather exciting Canadian Grand Prix around the 14-turn, 2.71-mile (4.361-kilometer) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, something rather extraordinary happened that left many fans and sporting professionals angry and confused, and for good reason.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who out-qualified both Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, started from the pole position and began a strong driving performance.

This strong performance in the hot Canadian heat kept Vettel and Hamilton in close proximity for a large portion of the 70-lap race, and with a few dozen laps to go, it seemed as though there would finally be a true battle for the lead between two drivers not named Hamilton and Bottas.

Hamilton began to close the gap to Vettel and apply pressure, which came to a boil on lap 48 when Vettel momentarily lost control of his car and cut between turns three and four. He made his attempt to rejoin the track and maintain his lead, but this attempt caused an awkward moment with a hard-charging Hamilton behind him. Hamilton was briefly held up by Vettel rejoining the track

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There was no contact, no wings broken, no tires punctured, no time lost and no advantage gained by either party relative to the other. But as the laps rolled on, the announcement came from the FIA racing stewards that a five-second penalty would be handed down to Vettel, effectively removing the chance of him winning and physically altering the outcome of the race.

This decision to hand down a penalty that altered the outcome of a race in this way brings multiple causes for concern moving forward for all parties involved in the sport. The FIA justified the penalty under the ruling that Vettel rejoined the track in an “unsafe” manner and forced Hamilton off the racing line. This is where the current uproar lies for a few reasons.

First, there is the claim that Vettel forced Hamilton off the track with his action of cutting the corner. This would be a valid claim if Hamilton actually had to make a diversionary move to avoid the recovering Ferrari of Vettel. However, there is a close retaining wall on the outside edge of turn four, which neither driver hit. This means that Hamilton did not actually leave the track to avoid Vettel, defeating the claim that he was forced off track as a result of Vettel missing the corner.

Next, there is the claim that Vettel should have slowed down and given up the lead. Anyone who has ever done anything remotely competitive, let alone raced anything remotely competitive, knows that you never, in any circumstance, give up. Under what situation should Vettel feel obligated to let a rival pass after he had led and defended for the entire race?

Lastly, this decision to issue this penalty in the middle of the race without pausing to talk to the drivers after the race and exercising some sort of rationalized judgment follows a dangerous trend of sanctioning bodies transitioning from a laid back approach to mitigate unfortunate situations to a heavy-fisted “act now and let others deal with the consequences later” dictatorship. The FIA, like many ruling bodies for many sports series, are all-powerful in this way, with little chance for others to appeal rulings and even less transparency in decisions made.

It has become expected that the FIA are going to make their decisions and offer little to no explanation as to why they chose to act in some cases but not in others.

There is another perspective that makes comparisons to previous instances of drivers joining the track in some unsafe manner and drawing a justified penalty.

Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff compared this situation to the Monaco Grand Prix pit lane situation with Bottas and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, when the latter exited his pit stall in an unsafe manner and made contact with Bottas in a way that caused damage to Bottas’s car. The main factor is that Verstappen made contact Bottas in a way that damaged his race result, and he was penalized for it.

Compare to this Canadian Grand Prix incident, where no contact was made.

For the recent penalty to be justified, there would have to be some key differences in how the situation was initiated and played out in whole. A penalty would be justified if Vettel had cut the course to gain a significant advantage had Hamilton had attempted to make an overtake, which didn’t even come close to happening.

A penalty would have been also been justified had Vettel made contact with Hamilton in a way that altered Hamilton’s ability to drive, which also didn’t happen. Hamilton, in fact, had multiple opportunities while in DRS range to attempt to overtake Vettel after this incident, but he was unsuccessful in doing so.

Ferrari have since filed a formal appeal, but the FIA are notorious for standing by their decisions to save face and deny any idea of being wrong. There will be an expected amount of little to no transparency with any explanation being supplied by the FIA only serving to justify their decision to manipulate a competitive Grand Prix.

Formula 1 fans are justified in being angry. The 2019 Canadian Grand Prix was one of the few races that featured close competition between different teams for the lead of the race. The battle for the lead essentially began as soon as Vettel took the pole position, and it went on for nearly the entire race.

But what should have left fans cheering over a change of scenery, a governing body became far too overinvolved and stymied what could have been a Formula 1 race to remember for all the right reasons.

The dust will likely not settle for some time with tensions aimed at the FIA being so unanimous from general fans and former drivers alike.

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Ferrari will have a chance at redemption come Sunday, June 23 in the eighth race on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, the French Grand Prix, at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. This race is scheduled to begin at 9:10 a.m. ET, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2.

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