Following on from the recent Mexican Grand Prix where Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was given a ten second time penalty for moving under braking when the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo attempted to overtake him right near the end of the grand prix, Ferrari has confirmed that they are lodging an appeal with the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
“Scuderia Ferrari has submitted a request to the Stewards of the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix to review their decision to penalize Sebastian Vettel for breach of Article 27.5 of the 2016 F1 Sporting Regulations as a consequence of his driving behavior in Turn 4 of lap 70,” the said in a statement.
“This has been the first application of Article 27.5 of the 2016 F1 Sporting Regulations as interpreted on the basis of the Race Director’s notes on “defensive maneuvers” and effective from the 2016 US Grand Prix. Scuderia Ferrari considers that a number of new elements have come to light after the decision was rendered that make the decision reviewable under Article 14.1 of the International Sporting Code.”
Just what those ‘new elements’ are exactly is not exactly known at this point in time, and even though it wont change a lot, Ferrari believes that it is setting a precedent for future manoeuvres…
“Scuderia Ferrari is aware that championship rankings will not change, regardless of the outcome. But in light of its importance as a precedent for the future, and in order to provide clarity in the application of the rules in future events, Scuderia Ferrari believes that the decision should be reconsidered by the Stewards.”
This situation was spoken about in depth in a press conference earlier today when the four time champion admitted he didn’t agree with the penalty but he has to deal with it.
“Well, obviously I don’t agree with the decision that was made. I think I moved over once to defend my position, after that yeah, I think I gave Daniel enough room on the inside; I kept the car straight for more than the majority of the braking, so I think the reason why, from my point of view, why Daniel locked up so bad is because there was no grip on the inside and it’s something that… yeah… I think we all knew,” he said.
“There were people locking up on other corners when they were offline, so I think it actually looks a bit worse than it was. I don’t think it was actually dangerous for Daniel at that point but OK, I have to deal with the decision.”
