FIA Investigation into Vettel / Hamilton Crash Opened

[Boby Kim]

Ofcourse not! Vettel served his stop & go penalty. Other penalties should have been communicated directly...not days after the incident. They are as dumb as a bag of hammers

 

[samcar304]

He's been given a 10 second stop go penalty (More like 30). And he was assessed points on his license, He's paid his due. And he is gonna pay his due when gets to Silverstone when the "fans" boo him.

 

[ouvert]

yep .. 10 sec he got for causing accident and after that he should be punnished for unsportmenlike conduct (or however it is called in eng) .. he is not some hot headed rookie ... I understand the anger and frustration but still, they are not playing football behind barn ...

 

[Karl S.]

There's the legal doctrine of "non bis in idem" (not twice for the same), therefore I think he should be not be twice tried for the same offence. He did wrong, got his penalty, so let's move on.

 

[ouvert]

cant you have two different violations for one act of wrongdoing? if you break more rules with on act

 

[LeSunTzu]

Vettel called this on himself by denying he had done anything wrong. That made it bigger than it should and sent a nasty message that FIA cannot tolerate.

I just hope that they will not give him a race ban or grid penalty, because that would create a mess with the championship.

 

[Frietpan]

No i dont think so, Unless a certain other Mercedes driver also gets some sort of penalty afterwards. Noone speaks of that.. And how messed up the balance in F1 is, Bottas is a lap behind and still finished second..
When will they fix that.

 

[jonelsorel]

Unimpressed as I am by the accident, I firmly believe that he (Vettel) has been punished now (to the right or wrong degree) by the race stewards and that should be the end of it.

Punish once, leave alone.

I see a pattern here and I think FIA is seeing it too. Repeat offender. And the fact that he is the poster boy for points deducted from his license says something. His reaction to the penalty points plan, before it was introduced, says even more. He's psychotic when it comes to what he thinks he is entitled too, just like his idol, Schumy, was. Repeatedly too. And not admitting to any mistake even when telemetry says otherwise is further proof and most probably the main reason why FIA is further digging into this. What he did is a pure case of road rage. You do that on the street with clear evidence and you're probably sentenced to community service or jail time. The fact that you do it in sport should count a little more.

How in the world can you, as a quadruple champion, say that you went alongside just to raise your hand? You've no control over the steering wheel with the other? How can you possibly try to take everyone for an idiot?

And how come Ferrari don't intervene in any way in the matter, like Red Bull promptly did with Kvyat after Sochi 2016? It seems that they're cultivating the pedigree, rather.

https://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013...-plan-for-driver-penalty-points-in-formula-1/

 

[mantasisg]

I think F1 managment is just trying to make this soap opera last longer.

- OMG he brakechecked me, mum...

"BEEOTCH SLAAAP"

- OMG he hit me, he hit me...

And then everybody talks about it for a week.

Personally I think Hamilton should have slowed down more gradually, and in straight, not in an exit of slow turn. An exit, not even midturn. While packed.

 

[MSKbeans]

Tit for Tat !!!!!!! but if either damaged Their cars then who's to say it's not going to kill the child watching the race. Ok extreme!!!! but Im pretty sure I would want to come home with my kids having watched 1 of the most memorable races for a longtime. Was good to see some of the lower teams do well after the Mercedes and Ferrari s cleaned up the broken carbon fibre.

 

[mantasisg]

I guess I understand why Nico, retired from this season.

 

[Peter Hooper]

My issue with this whole thing is Vettels denial of any wrong doing. That is unacceptable in my view and his childish antics at times really reflect very poorly on him.

As for further punishment its a tough one because i'm not really wanting to see anything in terms of point deductions that would directly effect the championship as its warming up to be a great battle that either could win but at the same time he needs to be made to realise that such unacceptable actions will not be tolerated.

 

[Terry Rock]

I take it you are not married, lol

Christ man!
I'm laughing so 'hard' I can barely type.
Now this....is funny.

 

[Midnight⠀]

I think the first decision regarding the penalty was too forgiving taking in consideration the case.
Both driver needs to grow up finally and start acting like they were real F1 pilots and not just a bunch of frustrated and spoiled kids with some fine driving skills who prefer making soap operas instead of proving on the track.
As a final thought maybe they could take empathy lessons from the current WEC teams and also some racing spirit.

 

[Adam#81]

Christ man!
I'm laughing so 'hard' I can barely type.
Now this....is funny.

Not so funny when you are on the receiving end

 

[Haiden773]

I'm sorry, but more should have been done at the time and I think this is the perfect opportunity to get it right. What he did was ridiculous and dangerous, and a ten second penalty is not nearly enough for that kind of behaviour. That's not to mention the fact that he also finished in front of the driver he deliberately rammed, and those 'penalty points' will mean nothing unless he does something else, and even less when the 12 month period expires in a few weeks. It's just not enough.

I couldn't agree more. What he did was just so insanely wrong, that they have to set an example and make it clear that that will not be tolerated, ever. The timing of it doesn't matter. This type of punishment is a little over the Steward's heads. They preside over the race. This is bigger than just that particular race. This is sportsman conduct and it's an FIA decision. It's also not something that should be decided quickly. It requires deliberation. There's no reason or rule that says the punishment has to come during the race.

I also think Vettel and Ferrari knew this was coming, which was why he kept ignoring any question about the side swipe and pretending it didn't happen. If he had apologized, that would have ruled out all doubt as to whether or not he did it on purpose. And apologies don't matter in this context. You do something like that, and then apologize later, it doesn't change the fact that you ruined someone's race, or worse, caused an injury. No one cares about an apology. This is a simple case of, "You don't do that. And we shouldn't even be having this conversation to begin with."

Also, the idea that it wasn't intentional is naive. Look at how far he went to the right before contact was made. If the swerve was an accident, he had plenty of time to turn back, Those cars are insanely agile with tight steering ratios. A simple flick of his wrist would have stopped him from closing that gap before contact.

 

[FalconX]

@Ross Garland
"That's not to mention the fact that he also finished in front of the driver he deliberately rammed"
If I recall correctly Hamilton had to pit because of his loose headrest. How is that Vettel's fault?

@Terry Rock
"I personally think the punishment should have been much, much more harsh"
Yeah, like what - firing squad?

@jonelsorel
"You do that on the street with clear evidence and you're probably sentenced to community service or jail time."
Only it did not happen on a public road but on a racetrack. Stop comparing things that can't really be compared.

"like Red Bull promptly did with Kvyat after Sochi 2016?"
Vettel did not - repeat, NOT - ram anyone off the road. Stop making it sound as if he did. Kwyat on the other hand, well...maybe you have seen a different race.

Do I think he needs to be punished more? No! Before the incident he had good chances for a race win, afterwards he did not. That Hamilton did not finish in front of him was not Vettel's fault (I highly doubt the headrest came loose from a nudge on the front wheel!). This is turning into a witch hunt that does not do any good to the sport at all (keeping in mind all the whining about how Vettel gives a bad example).

 

[Patrik Marek]

head rest came lose becasue of karma!! since Hamilton wasn't penalized, god punished him instead of fia!

 

[arniesan]

They have access to telemetry right? If Hamilton braked significantly harder than normal at that point, he should have got a penalty for endangering another driver. If the stewards didn't have the data at the time, a retrospective penalty seems in order.
I think the stewards job, in this case, is to award penalties which take effect during, and pertaining to the race. If they see fit, they (or the FIA) should also be able to recommend retrospective action.
The thing is, if they find that Vettel deliberately drove into another car, in anger, then I believe that would constitute "Bringing the sport into disrepute" or something similar. You just can't allow stuff like that to creep into sport, of any kind. It sends out the wrong message.
Sport, and therefore motorsport, should be (amongst other things) a tool to teach values to young people - hense the word sporting. Smashing into somebody because you're angry with them, is not only dangerous, it's unsportsman like and should be discouraged. The higher the profile of the sport, the greater the need for fair play.
Fair play should be seen to be done. If they're deemed to have broken the rules, throw the book at em.

Tell all that to Rocky Marciano. and expand above to make sense of my tongue in cheek anwer.

 

[CobraCat]

Vettel used his car as a weapon, he should have been black flagged, period !