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Ferrari intends to appeal Vettel decision
Ferrari has lodged its intention to appeal the stewards decision to penalize Sebastian Vettel that ultimately cost him victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Vettel was handed a five-second time penalty after going wide at Turn 3 and cutting across the grass, with the stewards deciding he “rejoined the track at Turn 4 in an unsafe manner” ahead of Lewis Hamilton (car 44) “and forced car 44 off track. Car 44 had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.”
The incident resulted in Vettel, who crossed the finish line first, being relegated to second behind Hamilton as he could not pull out a big enough gap in the final 12 laps after being informed of the penalty.
Ferrari has now confirmed its intention to appeal the decision, with the stewards document stating: “Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Article 9.1.1 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules”. Those articles state any appeal would be heard by the International Court of Appeal.
Having lodged its intention, Ferrari now has 96 hours to decide whether to appeal the stewards decision, which would require the team to provide fresh evidence.
The 2019 Sporting Regulations state that a time penalty, drive-through, stop-and-go, reprimand or grid drop cannot be appealed, but Williams appealed a three-place grid penalty for Sergey Sirotkin after last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. On that occasion, a preliminary FIA hearing felt there was no new evidence presented and dismissed the appeal.
In Canada, the FIA also looked closely at Lewis Hamilton’s car after the race as a result of a hydraulic system change that was made on Sunday, but confirmed the car complied with the regulations as it was changed for one of identical specification.
“It was confirmed for car number 44 that the PU hydraulic system, which was replaced today during the parc fermé, is in compliance with Article 34.2 of the 2019 Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
Read Chris Medland's articles
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