VETTEL’S GIFT

Lewis can take advantage as blunder relegates title rival to sixth on the grid

LEWIS HAMILTON was gifted a world championship boost last night when Sebastian Vettel was relegated three places down the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix after ‘unnecessarily impeding’ a fellow driver.

The Ferrari man was sent from third to sixth for blocking Renault’s Carlos Sainz on his flying qualifying lap, while Hamilton will start second behind his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

It was Vettel’s sixth crucial mistake during the past year and gives Hamilton every chance of extending his 14-point lead over the German before next Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

Vettel, who crashed on the first lap at Le Castellet in France a week ago, made his latest error during the middle section of qualifying. He was then called to the stewards, who took an hour and a quarter to publish their verdict.

The stewards, who reviewed video evidence, team radio exchanges and spoke to both drivers involved, said: ‘Vettel stated he was unable to see Sainz in his mirrors and that his team had not informed him of Sainz’s approach, by radio.

‘But notwithstanding the absence of a radio call, and the fact Vettel was unable to see Sainz in his rear view mirrors, Vettel should not have been so slow on the racing line during a slowdown lap in qualifying.’

The statement adds that the penalty, for breaching article 31.5, is in line with all similar incidents since 2016.

News of the verdict reached Mercedes while team principal Toto Wolff was conducting a press conference. He fist-pumped the air under the table and let out an exclamation of delight.

Small margins, little errors and big decisions may dictate the title’s destiny.

Vettel said: ‘I was looking down. I couldn’t see him. I wasn’t told on the radio, so I can only apologise to Carlos. Obviously, there was no intention. So, that’s it.’

After the decision, as the sun went down on the Styrian mountains which frame the Red Bull Ring, Vettel vowed to ‘focus on the race now’.

Earlier on the undulating track, Hamilton had found perfection elusive. He ran wide at turn two on his penultimate flying lap and, momentum lost, was 0.019 sec back from Bottas on his final fling. Vettel was third quickest, three-tenths of a second off the pace, before his summons. Hamilton said: ‘I made a mistake and when you don’t have your first lap as a banker, you’re building from scratch for the second one. There’s lots to play for tomorrow.’

The Mercedes cars look strong after coming to Austria with major upgrades. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest but will now start third.

Asked about the Vettel situation, Wolff said: ‘In order to win a championship you need to be as fast as possible, as reliable as possible and make the least errors. Sometimes it is difficult to put all these things together. Sebastian’s biggest strength is certainly his ambition, but sometimes, like in Le Castellet, it goes against him.

‘It is important to collect every single point. If you leave something on the table, it can bite you.

‘The situation is more comfortable with Seb down the grid. But the Ferraris will perform well.’

There were tantrums at Red Bull when Daniel Ricciardo thought the team were ganging up on him. After qualifying seventh, the Australian claimed his teammate Max Verstappen, who was fifth quickest, did not play fair by refusing to drive in front of him to provide a tow, as he was doing for him.

‘I’m not too impressed to be honest,’ said a visibly angry Ricciardo.

Verstappen said he was merely abiding by a team decision: that they take it in turns from one race to the next to run in a certain order and yesterday the advantage was rightly his. Tempers let off, they both drew a line under the rancour afterwards.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso qualified 14th after running wide at the penultimate corner and damaging his front wing. It was another sub-par day for his team with Stoffel Vandoorne only 16th.

The usually faultless Alonso has out-qualified Vandoorne in all nine rounds this season. That is part of the reason the Belgian is likely to be shipped out at the end of the year.

Charles Leclerc, a 20-year-old Monegasque, is impressing at Sauber. He qualified an excellent 13th but faces a five-place grid penalty for a change of gearbox.

However, despite the punishment, he will start in front of his team-mate Marcus Ericsson — a feather he can wear proudly in his helmet.

Leclerc is being tipped for a Ferrari drive next year, being on their books as a protege.

If he gets the nod, Raikkonen would be jettisoned. McLaren, in turn, would then try to sign Raikkonen if Alonso decides enough is enough.