Ferrari will not appeal against Vettel penalty

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – Ferrari will not appeal against the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The German won on track but was penalised five seconds for dangerous driving, which handed the win to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

A Ferrari spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that they had decided against moving forward with an appeal.

However, Ferrari are still considering whether to try to overturn the penalty via a right to review.

While Formula 1’s rules dictate that this sort of penalty is not subject to a right of appeal, teams can ask for it to be reviewed providing a “significant and new element” is discovered that was not previously considered.

The timeframe for this to happen is 14 days, which gives Ferrari until 23 June – the day of the next race, the French Grand Prix – to decide whether to take with this approach.

Ferrari had said on Sunday after the race that they would appeal against the decision to penalise Vettel for “rejoining the track in an unsafe manner and forced (Hamilton) to take evasive action to avoid a collision” after the German four-time world champion had gone off track at the Turn Three/Four chicane when under pressure from Hamilton.

He rejoined the track on the exit of the corner and swept across to the wall on the outside. Hamilton, who had half his car alongside the Ferrari, to hit the brakes to avoid crashing into Vettel.

A number of sections of the FIA’s international sporting code potentially govern the incident between Hamilton and Vettel.

One says: “Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are strictly prohibited.”

Another says that any driver rejoining the track can only do so “when it is safe to do so and without gaining any advantage”.

Another adds: “It is not permitted to drive any car unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers at any time.”