F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Vettel under investigation for scooter ride after FP1

Sebastian Vettel is under investigation by the Australian Grand Prix stewards for riding a scooter back to the pits at the end of Friday's first practice at Albert Park.

It was an inauspicious start for Vettel who kicks off his season in earnest this weekend after missing the first two races of the year due to testing positive for Covid.

The Aston Martin driver's FP1 session came to a premature end with 15 minutes left on the clock when he was forced to halt his car out on the track at Turn 10, with smoke coming out of the rear of the German's AMR22.

The session was briefly red flagged as the Aston Martin ws pushed out of harm's way while Vettel waited for FP1 to conclude.

He then hopped on a scooter to make his way back to the pitlane, much to the pleasure of the local fans who waved at the four-time world champion who gladly returned the courtesy.

However, Vettel's improvised ride out on the track was frowned upon by the stewards, with the action seen as a potential breach of F1's sporting regulations.

Article 26.7 of F1's sporting rules states that no one is allowed on-track in the five minutes after a practice session except for "marshals, or other authorised personnel, in the execution of their duty".

But Vettel won't be the only driver visiting the stewards' office ahead of FP2, with pacesetter Carlos Sainz also summoned for an alleged blocking incident involving Alfa's Guanyu Zhou Guanyu.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Marko: Verstappen’s struggles with RB20 rear end ‘alarming’

Helmut Marko says Max Verstappen’s inability on Friday at Imola to get on top of…

2 hours ago

Antonelli made it like he'd ‘been in F1 car for ages’ in Mercedes test

Mercedes technical director James Allison says the Brackley squad’s engineers have been very impressed with…

3 hours ago

‘My mistake’ says Hamilton after FP2 run-in with Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton found himself at the center of a bit of controversy following Friday’s practice…

14 hours ago

Tsunoda aiming for top ten after strong start in Imola

Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda made an eye-catching start to the Emilia Romagna…

14 hours ago

Emilia Romagna GP: Friday's action in pictures

F1 fans enjoyed a warm and sunny day of action at the Autodromo Enzo e…

14 hours ago

Leclerc says Ferrari 'needs to keep its feet on the ground'

Charles Leclerc hailed a smooth, trouble-free Friday for Ferrari at their home race at the…

15 hours ago