Ferrari believes it has "quite overwhelming evidence" Vettel deserved no penalty
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
With the hearing between Ferrari and the Canadian Grand Prix stewards just having gotten underway at 2.15pm local time in France, the Italian team believes it has "quite overwhelming" new evidence to prove Sebastian Vettel broke no rules when getting his infamous five-second penalty in Canada.
Vettel, who was in the lead of the race, went onto the grass at turn 3 in Canada with Lewis Hamilton chasing him down. The German struggled to keep his SF90 under control as he rejoined the track, and forced Hamilton to pump the brakes to avoid a collision. Vettel got awarded a five-second penalty for the incident, resulting in him finishing second despite crossing the finish line first.
Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies will represent his driver in France in a hearing with the stewards, where he'll try to present new evidence to urge the stewards to revisit the penalty.
"The first thing we'd like to underline is we very much respect the work of the stewards," Mekies was quoted by Motorsport.com on his way to the hearing.
"We know it's a very difficult job. It's a complex world, complex races, and therefore we are fully supportive of what they are trying to achieve. Now, in the aftermath of the Grand Prix, we have access to a number of new evidence."
Mekies wouldn't reveal what this new evidence was exactly, but it likely has to do with Vettel's telemetry and GPS data.
"We looked at [the evidence] and for this reason and we have requested the FIA's right of review because we believe that this evidence is quite overwhelming when it comes to establishing that Sebastian did not breach any regulation."
We'll keep you updated what the outcome of the hearing is, as soon as it breaks.