VETTEL RAP OVER RANT AT OFFICIAL

SEBASTIAN VETTEL has said sorry for yelling abuse over the radio during Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, but that will not save him from an FIA investigation into his rant.

Sportsmail has learned that the Ferrari driver sought out respected race director Charlie Whiting before leaving the track, saying he regretted having told him to ‘**** off’ for not ordering Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had cut a corner, to hand him back the place. Whiting, speaking on his journey home from Mexico, confirmed: ‘He did say sorry. He was quite robust about finding me and apologising. ‘Given he has done that I’m not too hung up on it personally, but it remains to be seen how my boss may wish to pursue the matter.’

Sportsmail contacted the FIA president Jean Todt, who watched the race from his home in Paris. ‘We have people assembling evidence about the incident,’ said Todt, a former Ferrari team principal. ‘Then we have to see if any action has to be taken or not.’ The FIA are under pressure to act, not least because a failure to do so would make it open season for drivers to swear publicly at the race officials. Vettel could be fined, though a sporting sanction — a grid penalty or the like — would be a more meaningful punishment given his multi-millionaire status. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner led the calls for action. ‘There is always going to be emotion from the driver in the heat of the moment,’ he said. ‘But in any sport, you can’t abuse the referee essentially, so I would be surprised if that went unreprimanded.’