Formula 1: Ferrari request a review of Sebastian Vettel’s win-stripping penalty

Ferrari have officially requested a review of the penalty that took away what would have been Sebastian Vettel’s first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season.

After Sebastian Vettel had what would have been his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season taken away from him following the Canadian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari announced their intent to appeal the five-second penalty that ultimately robbed him of this victory.

Ferrari then revealed that they had decided to appeal the penalty, but a few days later, they stated that they had not actually done so and no longer planned to do so.

That said, they also made clear that they still planned to challenge this penalty using “right of review”, and that is exactly what they are doing.

More from Formula One

• Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
• Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
• Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
• Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
• Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points

The Italian team have officially written to the FIA and requested a review of the penalty that took victory in 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 away from Vettel and handed it to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton.

On lap 48, Vettel went off the track between turns three and four while leading over Hamilton in second place, and the race stewards deemed that the way by which he reentered the track ahead of Hamilton was “unsafe” since Hamilton had to slow down to avoid hitting the 31-year-old German’s car.

Vettel went on to win the race by 1.342 seconds but was ultimately scored 3.658 seconds behind Hamilton in second place because of the five-second penalty he was issued for this “unsafe” reentry onto the track.

Ferrari were only able to request a review of this penalty assuming that they possess new evidence to support their claim, so clearly they feel that they have a case. That said, it is not known what, exactly, they ended up coming up with as far as new evidence is concerned.

According to Motorsport, Article 14.1.1 of the FIA’s International Sporting Code states that the race stewards or replacements can reconvene if “a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the Competition concerned” from this review.

The stewards will likely reconvene this weekend, the weekend of the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France, to determine whether or not Ferrari’s new evidence is tenable. If they deem that it is, they will hear Ferrari’s arguments as to why Vettel should not have been penalized and make a final decision about the matter.

Will Ferrari’s review request of the penalty that stripped Sebastian Vettel of what would have been his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season result in him being awarded this victory over Lewis Hamilton, or will Hamilton keep this victory?