FIA battles Brazil race controversy
Ferrari considers appeal after Vettel wins title as a result of disputed pass.
ROME — Formula One’s governing body said Thursday that it will explain to Ferrari why it did not penalize Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel for an overtaking maneuver in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
FIA believes there is no cause for Ferrari to lodge an appeal that, if successful, would strip Vettel of the F1 title and give it to Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.
Video footage from Sunday’s Brazilian GP appears to show that Vettel passed Jean-Eric Vergne while a yellow caution light was on.
If a rules breach were proven, Vettel would get a 20-second penalty, which would move him from sixth place to eighth in the race and give Alonso the F1 title by one point.
“The incident wasn’t reported to stewards in the first place because it didn’t seem like there was a need to report it at the time,” said Norman Howell, director of communications for the International Automobile Federation (FIA). “Now that Ferrari has sent us a letter asking for an explanation we will give it to them.”
One of the videos was taken from a camera on Vettel’s car.
“Ferrari has asked, via a letter, an explanation from the FIA over VET’s pass of VER on lap 4 of the Brazilian GP,” the Italian team said in a Twitter post Thursday.
Alonso finished second in the race at Interlagos, but Vettel’s sixth place was enough to give him his third straight season title by three points. The 25-year-old German became F1’s youngest three-time champion.
Should Alonso be awarded the title, he would become a threetime champion.
“We’re looking at the video. We have until tomorrow to file an appeal,” Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said.
If Ferrari appeals, the case would be considered by the four Brazilian GP stewards. After an eventual decision, each side can appeal to the FIA appeals court, with a final decision likely before the F1 awards ceremony in Istanbul on Dec. 7.
Vettel appeared to be in big trouble when he was bumped shortly after the start of the race and spun. He dropped to last place before he could turn his car around. He steadily worked his way up the field despite a slightly damaged car and no radio communication.
It was during Vettel’s climb back that the alleged illegal overtake of Vergne occurred. HOUSTON — The Houston defense was a major hit, literally, in its first year under Wade Phillips, finishing the 2011 season with a franchise-record 44 sacks.
Statistically, this year’s defense stacks up well with last year’s unit, and defensive end J.J. Watt has emerged as one of the NFL’s top pass rushers, now second in the league with 14½. But the pass rush has tapered off as a whole in recent weeks, and the defense has yielded big passing numbers as an indirect result.
Watt had a career-high three sacks in Houston’s 3431 overtime win over Detroit on Thanksgiving. Take him away, and the rest of the Texans have only 15½ sacks all season and now outside linebacker Brooks Reed, who has 2½, is out indefinitely with a groin injury.
The Texans (10-1) have still kept right on winning and can clinch a playoff berth with win at Tennessee (4-7) on Sunday. But the defense can’t ignore the fact that it’s given up an average of 395.5 yards passing and six touchdown catches in the last two games.
“I’m proud of my boys, because each week, got to find a way to win, and we keep winning,” defensive end Antonio Smith said. “But you can’t just sit and act like the yardage didn’t happen, the touchdowns didn’t happen. A lot of the things we have not let happen this year, we let happen in the last two weeks.
“The defense that we are, we take pride in being one of the best,” Smith said. “We definitely want to get that fixed, get a stop.”
Smith has four sacks and Reed’s injury creates an opportunity for first-round pick Whitney Mercilus, who has three sacks in the last four games. Mercilus led the nation in sacks last season at Illinois (16), and Phillips