Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Silverstone, 2019

Vettel given penalty points for Verstappen crash

2019 British Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel has been given two penalty points on his licences for crashing into Max Verstappen during the British Grand Prix.

Vettel drove into the back of Verstappen’s car as the pair approached Vale, shortly after the Red Bull driver had passed the Ferrari. The crash delayed both drivers, though Verstappen went on to take fifth place in his damaged car. Vettel was classified 16th after receiving a 10-second time penalty.

The stewards pinned the blame for the crash entirely on the Ferrari driver.

“The stewards reviewed the video evidence which showed car five locked wheels under braking and collided with the rear of car 33,” they noted. “The stewards concluded that the driver of car five was wholly to blame for the incident.”

Following his penalty Vettel has now moved onto a total of six penalty points, halfway towards a one-race ban.

FIA race director Michael Masi said he suspects the stewards saw no alternative other than to blame Vettel for the crash.

“I think from the footage and everything they relied upon it was all clear for everyone to see that Max went in there and Sebastian, it looks as though he misjudged it. I don’t think there was any doubting from what I saw.”

The race stewards for this weekend’s race were Garry Connelly, Felix Holter, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Dennis Carter.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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33 comments on “Vettel given penalty points for Verstappen crash”

  1. Yep, what I thought happened.
    Vettel exclaimed ‘What is he doing?’, because he expected Verstappen to steer to the right.
    Verstappen moved to defend his position earlier but didn’t move back. That is within his rights, of course.
    That surprised Vettel who was already diving into the corner.

  2. So this is the same amount of penalty points as the unsafe release situation with Max and Bottas

    I don’t like this points system and this fact shows how stupid it is

    1. Totally disagree.
      Adequate and pretty fair system.

      Don’t forget that this is not a penalty system. It is a system of making drivers be aware of their on-track behavior.
      If they misbehave too many times – ban.

      And any penalty is a separate matter. Just like today – with Vettel getting 10 seconds.

      1. *not “in-race” penalty system.

        1. @dallein, I would argue that the stewards should have actually imposed a harsher penalty for the unsafe release for Verstappen in Monaco by comparison, given it was more cynical and hard the potential to injure more individuals.

          In that case, cynically choosing to take the penalty and releasing a driver into the path of another driver in the narrowest and most congested pit lane that was also extremely busy and had a large number of mechanics who could have been injured if a collision between Verstappen and Bottas had nudged Verstappen over to the left shows a callous disregard for the safety and welfare of others.

          If the FIA should be penalising anything harshly, it should be the attitude of “who cares about who might get hurt, it’s cheaper to take a penalty” that Red Bull showed in that race – if they are really concerned about the safety of all participants, not just the drivers, then they should crack down hard on that sort of behaviour.

          1. +1 to that, it was a calculated decision at Monaco, which made it very unsporting.

          2. It’s a driver penalty system not team. The team can just put another driver in the car, right?

            So a team error gets the same punishment as causing a collision. Where is the justice in that? Nowhere.

            In the same category: why wasn’t Leclerc under investigation for his move on Max. Again, I don’t think they should do that, but last GP we had to wait 3 hours for an investigation of a similar move. Where is the consistency?

            Where is Ferrari now with their fake cry on inconsistency? It’s laughable and ridiculous.

            One time it’s micromanagement galore and another time it’s nothing.

            /end rant

          3. F1oSaurus (@)
            14th July 2019, 21:27

            @anunak Monaco wasn’t a team error. The penalty was for Verstappen putting Bottas in the wall. He was to the left of Bottas (no problem there) and then suddenly moved to the right.

            Red Bull did not get a penalty for unsafe release today either. Releasing both cars almost at the same time like that is allowed.

            Alwo we don’t need 3 hours discussion on wether Leclerc’s move was fair this time. A precedent was set when Verstappen did it. So he (and his fans) can expect the same type of behavior back.

    2. I don’t think Max was penalised for an unsafe release in Monaco. He was penalised for not giving Bottas enough space in the pit lane, squeezing him towards the wall and effectively causing contact.

      1. Well you can’t really avoid someone you can’t see.

  3. Not that I particularly like penalties, especially when the incident already spoiled his race, but shouldn’t Vettel get a grid drop for the next race? The 10 second time penalty was irrelevant. Or do you only get a grid drop when you can’t be penalised in the same race (even if the penalty was irrelevant).

    1. He got a points penalty.

  4. Vettel should have a half year rest. He’s been poor for a year now. He seems like he is not properly there mentally.

  5. F1oSaurus (@)
    14th July 2019, 20:10

    Why didn’t they give Vettel a grid penalty for the next race? A time penalty when he’s already at the back of the grid is completely useless.

    Like when Vettel clobbered Kubica in Australia 2009. He got a 10 place grid penalty for that. Rear ending Verstappen like he did here was even worse and “in practice” he gets no real penalty whatsoever. Again!

    1. Grid drop would be more fair.

    2. They issue a grid penalty for next race only when they are unable to penalize a driver in the race.

      As for penalties being completely useless, that happens. Just remember Valencia 2010. when Hamilton overtook a SC after SC line while Alonso was stuck behind it. Hamilton went ahead at faster pace, made a pit stop and came long way ahead of Alonso. Later in the race he got a drive through penalty which took very long time to be awarded and he had already made such a gap that he hadn’t lost a place.

      1. 10 sec penalty for rosberg austria 2016 last lap, after the collision with hamilton, the penalty was for cutting the finish line with front wing damaged, and his gap was enough to finish 4th with or without penalty.

  6. Once again Vettel in a wheel to wheel battle that doesn’t end well. Seb’s racecraft is utterly pathetic.

  7. Has anybody seen Max changing two times direction while braking? I’m not saying it’s not Vettel fault but there wasn’t space neither in the left nor in the right… Not easy not to make contact…

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      14th July 2019, 21:23

      @bruuuuum Looked to me like Verstappen covers the inside and stays there.

      Perhaps Vettel expected Verstappen to suddenly move over to the side, but more likely he (as usual) simply didn’t understand that he needs to brake earlier when there is a car ahead of him and when taking a tighter line into the corner.

      1. @f1osaurus Agreed. Track out from the previous corner takes you to the left, and the normal line is to move back right to open up the corner to get optimal drive on corner exit. I think Seb understands the braking aspect well enough, but didn’t predict Max’s line correctly and got caught out by it. It was pretty optimistic of Seb to think Max would open the door though, and of course when the downforce was off his car he couldn’t slow fast enough. 100% Seb’s fault on this one, primarily for guessing wrong. Predicting Max would not open the door is a better bet, and I think a better approach for Seb would have been to open up his own line while Max defended the inside so he could get a better drive off that corner and catch Max on the way to the next corner.

  8. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    14th July 2019, 22:01

    I just don’t know what’s happened to Seb. He seems a broken man. I bashed him for a lot of years during Red Bull period (probably just my bias) over some fairly trivial reasons, mainly close quarter racing and not being the most ‘natural’ of racers but there was no doubt over his pace. But this Seb we are seeing is so deflated and low on confidence. In 2014 I could understand, his idol had been a horrific accident, he hated hybrids and Red Bull has lost their way because of hybrids, I could understand him losing some drive that season. But since Baku 2017 he has completely lost it, you wouldn’t forgive a rookie for the errors he’s made and he appears to have fallen out of love with the sport. I think he needs a fresh challenge. I think with his work ethic, pace and a team around him he will bounce back but not at Ferrari.

    1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      14th July 2019, 22:06

      I’d liken it to Lewis in 2011 but we are talking about a number of seasons now. I do like the guy and don’t think he’s anywhere near as bad as his capitulation would suggest.

    2. I can agree with a lot of that. I remember reading an article on here from just before the German GP last year in which Mark Webber commented on VET and how VET likes everything to be simple and straightforward in a race. If there are variables such as changeable conditions or not knowing if the 1st or 2nd lap would be best in qualifying, he’d have “meltdowns” as Webber called them.

      Webber stated how Vettels speciality was putting it on pole, breaking the gap for DRS and sailing off on his own but as soon as one of those things didn’t happen – he’d not perform to his best

      The words of Webber always resonate with me when i see something like this today or indeed the German GP last year

      1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
        15th July 2019, 8:17

        That’s really interesting, makes sense.

  9. When Seb has time to think, he’s a worthy 4 time WDC. He did a truly great speach for Charlie the other day and in most interviews I really like him nowadays opposed to the spoiled brad he was in his RedBull days. But too many times he’d to make a splitsecond decision he decided poorly. I think he’s just not great enough to withstand the huge pressure from Ferrari and the tifosi. That’s where he differs from MSC and Lewis. Max is coping pressure already much better and Charles is learning awfully fast. 2021 Vettel will surely fill Niki’s shoes, not as a Ferrari WDC but as a RTL Germany co-host!

  10. I have a feeling he deliberately crashed into Max, so that next time Max would have second thoughts. Maybe it’s kind of payback for previous things.

    1. Blaize Falconberger (@)
      15th July 2019, 14:19

      Let’s face it, Seb has previous for crashing into other drivers on purpose…

  11. When are the stewards going to penalize Verstappen for these dangerous defensive moves? This is the same as Verstappen-Riccardo at Baku 2018. Verstappen blocks into the braking zone and the driver behind has no option but to run into the back of him. If you want to defend, make your move before the braking zone you moron.

    1. What dangerous defensive move?

      Verstappen was on the racing line, he wasn’t weaving, he’d made the move with more than enough time for Vettel to react and there was nothing that he did wrong.
      This was 100% Vettel’s fault, he’s even admitted it.

      Don’t let your anti-Verstappen bias blind you to the obvious.

      1. @nikkit I also think it’s Vettel’s fault; however, Verstappen wasn’t on the racing line, he was on the left of the track.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KUixlLrO6c

        He covers the inside, as he should. But when Vettel then brakes and tries to go to the racing line, Verstappen changes direction again to return to the racing line. I honestly think this kind of defense will get him rear-ended again, just as last year in Baku.

  12. Is Verstappen making 2 or even 3 moves here in this video from yesterdays race?
    Or is this just racing? Vettel went left then right then left and so did Max.
    How many moves are you allowed to make?
    Just trying to clarify

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazeOTKFdAU

    1. The rules seem to be “do whatever you want if you’re in front of beside, just don’t move twice IN the braking zone”.

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