Fuming Sebastian Vettel accuses Canadian GP of ‘stealing’ race from Ferrari as he comes first but loses out on win to Lewis Hamilton after controversial time penalty
LEWIS HAMILTON won the Canadian Grand Prix by default after the stewards controversially slapped Sebastian Vettel with a five-second time penalty. The German, who led the race from the start to the finish, was left livid after he was penalised for an unsafe return to the track after making a mistake on lap 48. Hamilton […]
LEWIS HAMILTON won the Canadian Grand Prix by default after the stewards controversially slapped Sebastian Vettel with a five-second time penalty.
The German, who led the race from the start to the finish, was left livid after he was penalised for an unsafe return to the track after making a mistake on lap 48.
Hamilton started closing the gap on Vettel and the Ferrari man appeared to crack under the pressure and slid off the track.
He then rejoined the circuit in front of Hamilton, which prompted a complaint from the Brit.
And the stewards responded by adding five-seconds to Vettel’s overall time, demoting him to second place and promoted Hamilton to the top step of the podium.
Vettel was understandably furious and complained over the team’s radio: “I had nowhere to go…Where the hell am I supposed to go? I had grass on my wheels. They are stealing the race from us.”
He later added: “No, no, no. You need to be an absolute blind man to go through the grass and control the car. This is not fair.”
He had a point for this decision denied us the thrill of seeing Hamilton slug it out with the four-time world champion.
It is exactly what F1 has been crying out for — two of the best drivers of their generation competing for race wins.
Yet sadly, this was taken away in Montreal, the American market F1’s owners are so desperate to crack.
Vettel was not calming down quickly after the race, parking his Ferrari down the other end of the pits to avoid the obligatory interview with Martin Brundle.
He then strolled off into the team motor home before being persuaded to return to the podium.
On the way, the German astoundingly dragged the No. 1 marker away from Hamilton’s car and replaced it with the No. 2 sign.
In the cooldown room he faced a quiet race winner who admitted he didn’t want to win that way, a feeling he showed on the podium when helping Vettel on to the winner’s spot for a moment.
Brundle finally got his chat with the four-time champion who urged fans not to boo Hamilton when the Merc man began answering his questions.
In responding to the penalty, he simply said: “Listen to the people”, pointing towards the unhappy crowd.
LEWIS GETS ANOTHER BREAK
It was a mixed weekend for Hamilton, who did not have the best preparation for the race.
He suffered an uncharacteristic crash during second practice when he hit the wall, costing him vital lap time.
And, while he lost out on pole to Vettel, his team discovered a hydraulic problem before the race, while his anti-stall kicked in during the formation lap.
However, he did manage to get away cleanly from the line when the lights went out, but as did Vettel and Leclerc, who all held their grid positions on the first lap.
Vettel started opening up a slight gap over Hamilton, which stood at around 2.3seconds on lap five.
However, Hamilton remained in touching distance and looked ready to pounce when Vettel pitted on lap 27.
The Steward's official verdict
The stewards reviewed video evidence and determined that Vettel’s Car 5, left the track at turn 3, rejoined the track at turn 4 in an unsafe manner and forced Hamilton’s Car 44 off track.
Car 44 had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Hamilton’s race engineer, Pete Bonnington, tells his driver “Ok Lewis, it’s hammer time,” but then added: “OK, we don’t have the gap so we’re going to extend this stint as long as we can.”
Hamilton responded to the mixed message saying “these tyres are pretty f*****” and his team responded by calling him in at the end of lap 28 for new tyres himself.
It was another set-back for the Silver Arrows, as their attempt to leapfrog Ferrari in pit stops failed to come off.
Hamilton had the bit between his teeth and he started eating into the four second gap after the pit stops.
And by lap 39, the German’s lead was down to 1.3seconds as the pendulum swung back in Hamilton’s favour as he started sizing up his overtaking possibilities.
He was given a further incentive when Vettel received a coded warning from his race engineer about rising temperatures in his Ferrari.
The former Red Bull man has a history of struggling under the looming threat of Hamilton.
And on lap 48 he almost came unstuck when he lost control through the chicane only to regain control at the last moment just when Hamilton looked to get past.
The news came on lap 58 and while Vettel crossed the line first he went straight into the FIA’s garages to complain.
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Meanwhile, it was also a miserable race for Brit Lando Norris. The McLaren driver was enjoying a good tussle with Max Verstappen for eighth place.
But after two missed corners, the 19-year-old suffered an inexplicable failure when his over-heating brakes melted his rear suspension.
Norris had no option but to pull over on lap nine and become the first driver to retire from the race.