Newlywed Vettel hopes for good news from stewards
A newly married Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari Formula One team hope to persuade stewards on Friday to review a controversial decision that cost the German victory in Canada two weeks ago.
Sporting director Laurent Mekies, who previously worked for the governing FIA as head of safety, will represent the Italian team at a hearing after first practice for the French Grand Prix at Le Castellet.
Neither Ferrari nor Vettel — sporting a wedding ring after marrying longtime partner Hanna Prater last week — were giving anything away about what new element they might present to make their case. The right of review calls for a team to present significant and relevant new evidence that was not available at the time.
“Ask the team,” said Vettel when pushed for more information on Thursday. The stewards have sole discretion to determine whether such a new element exists and will either dismiss the request or accept there is a case for a further hearing.
The decision to give Vettel a five-second penalty in Montreal, for going off track and returning in an unsafe manner while defending the lead from Lewis Hamilton, triggered a controversy that rumbles on.
Vettel had led all the way and finished first before being demoted to second when the penalty was applied, giving the victory to the fivetime world champion Hamilton.
Vettel, a four-time world champion, is now 62 points adrift of the Mercedes driver. He was furious after the race, replacing the “1” marker in front of Hamilton’s parked car with a “2” before reluctantly going onto the podium.
He said on Thursday he had not changed his mind about what happened but shrugged when asked if he was confident Ferrari might get back the victory.
The German would not be drawn on comments by compatriot Nico Rosberg, who won his title for Mercedes, backing the stewards and criticizing Vettel’s behaviour.
“No view. No view is a good view in Germany,” said Vettel, his smile wearing thin as the questions about Canada kept coming and the Ferrari press officer tried in vain to steer the conversation elsewhere.