Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel in danger of being suspended

Following the Italian Grand Prix, four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel finds himself in danger of being suspended from competing in a Grand Prix.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has made almost too many unforced errors to count over the last few Formula 1 seasons, and in addition to costing himself dozens upon dozens of valuable points in the championship, it has resulted in penalty points being added to his license on multiple occasions.

Such was the case in Ferrari’s home race on Sunday.

Vettel started the Italian Grand Prix from fourth place, but he quickly found himself in 20th (last) after spinning out in turn nine of the 11-turn, 3.600-mile (5.794-kilometer) Autodromo Nazionale Monza road course in Monza, Italy.

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But what happened after the 32-year-old German spun is what got the attention of the race stewards, and it is this action that has him in danger of being suspended in the very near future.

After getting his car rolling again, Vettel reentered the track and ran right into SportPesa Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, sending Stroll spinning.

Then when Stroll went to reenter the track, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly had to take evasive action and go through off-course to avoid hitting him as well.

Here is a video of this bizarre sequence.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1170768765803520007

Vettel, who needed to pit for repairs to his front wing, was also issued a 10-second stop-go penalty for causing this mayhem, and what could have been a podium finish for him in turned into a 13th place finish.

He finished one lap off the lead lap while teammate Charles Leclerc secured his second consecutive victory, holding off Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport teammates Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton without the assistance of Vettel.

Vettel also had three penalty points added to his license. As a result, he is just one serious incident away from being handed an automatic one-race suspension.

One-race suspensions are issued to drivers who accumulate 12 penalty points over the course of 12 months, and Vettel is up to nine. None of these nine points are set to expire prior to the Japanese Grand Prix, which is three races away. A maximum of three penalty points can be issued to a driver for a single incident.

Here is the upcoming three-race schedule, which Vettel must get through without receiving three more penalty points.

• Sunday, September 22 – Singapore Grand Prix
• Sunday, September 29 – Russian Grand Prix
• Sunday, October 13 – Japanese Grand Prix

Given the atrocious rate at which Sebastian Vettel has made crucial errors as of late, things could get interesting over the course of the next three Formula 1 races as he looks to avoid being forced to sit out a race.