Formula 1: Ferrari decide not to appeal Sebastian Vettel’s win-stripping penalty

Despite having previously said they had appealed Sebastian Vettel’s Canadian Grand Prix penalty that cost him his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season, Ferrari have not and will not do so.

After Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had what would have been his first victory of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season taken away from his via a five-second time penalty, Ferrari stated that they had appealed this penalty.

However, they never appealed this penalty, and they will not do so.

Instead, the 31-year-old German will have to settle for a second place finish in the season’s seventh race, the Canadian Grand Prix, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve despite the fact that he finished 1.342 seconds ahead of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton, the official race winner, in second.

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On lap 48 of the 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, Vettel was leading the race ahead of Hamilton and went off the track between turns three and four. Upon reentering the track, he ended up right in front of Hamilton, causing the 34-year-old Briton to hit his brakes.

While no driver ultimately gained an advantage over the other as a result of Vettel’s off-track excursion and neither of their cars suffered any damage, the FIA stewards ruled that Vettel’s reentry onto the track was “unsafe”.

As a result, despite the fact that he crossed the finish line first, he is still seeking his first victory since he won the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix last August.

Meanwhile, Hamilton is already up to five victories throughout the season’s first seven races, and he sits atop the driver standings with 162 points. Vettel, meanwhile, sits in a distant third place with 100 points.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is currently the only driver who separates the two drivers who have finished in first and second place, respectively, in the standings in each of the last two seasons, as he sits in second with 133 points.

When will Ferrari earn their first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season? Will it be Sebastian Vettel who delivers them this victory? If not, when will he earn his first victory of the year?