F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Vettel loses podium for moving under braking

Sebastian Vettel has been demoted to fifth place by a 10-second time penalty for moving under braking against Daniel Ricciardo in the Mexican Grand Prix.

The penalty sees Vettel lose his podium having been promoted to third place by a five-second time penalty for Max Verstappen. Vettel has been penalised for his defensive manoeuvre against Ricciardo under braking for Turn 4 on the penultimate lap of the race, with the two making slight contact and Vettel staying ahead after squeezing the Red Bull to the inside.

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After a lengthy stewards investigation, Vettel was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for the incident, which the stewards decided breached Article 27.5 of the Sporting Regulations as he was "driving dangerously or erratically approaching Turn 4."

"Notwithstanding the F1 Commission directive to 'let the drivers race' we note the concern that has been expressed about manoeuvrers involving a change of direction under braking as expressed at the Drivers Briefing at the US Grand Prix and in the Race Director’s Notes from the US Grand Prix and this event," the stewards decision read.

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"The telemetry and video evidence shows that the driver of Car 5 did change direction under braking. Article 27.5 and the Race Director’s Notes have essentially three criteria that determine a breach:

1) Driving in a manner potentially dangerous
2) An abnormal change of direction
3) Another driver having to take evasive action

"The video footage, including the close circuit footage, the broadcast vision, both drivers' on board cameras plus the telemetry show that there was an abnormal change of direction by Car 5 and this was considered to be potentially dangerous in view of the proximity of the wheels of each car.

"The video evidence clearly shows that Car 3 had to take evasive action as a result.

"Accordingly as all three criteria have been met, the driver of Car 5 is guilty of a breach of Article 27.5."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.