Vettel set for even more punishment?
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According to German Auto sport Magazine, Sebastian Vettel is not off the hook after his collision with Lewis Hamilton in Baku with FIA president Jean Todt investigating the incident as he considers whether to take further action against German.
While Vettel escaped with a warning from the FIA after an expletive-laden tirade at race director Charlie Whiting during last year’s Mexican GP, it is reported that Todt is finding it harder to protect the Ferrari driver after the incident during the Azerbaijan GP.
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The German magazine says the international criticism of the 10-second stop-and-go penalty Vettel received during the Azerbaijan GP has been felt at the FIA and Todt is deciding whether to bring Vettel before the International Tribunal.
A decision on whether there will be a hearing could come as early as this week with Vettel potentially facing a one-race ban if it is deemed the initial punishment was not severe enough.
The FIA has the scope, and the power to hand down further punishment, if they so choose. With any actions deemed to have brought the sport into disrepute dealt with under Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which provides an almost limitless range of punishment.
Vettel is currently racing with 9 points against his name, with 2 points due to be dropped a day after the next race on July the 10th, a year after the British GP. This means Vettel must avoid picking up three points or more at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks, to avoid sitting out the Silverstone race, a suspension which would be a huge blow to his title aspirations for 2017.
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Yet despite all this, Vettel was still able to increased his title advantage over Hamilton to 14 points in Sunday’s race, after Hamilton was forced to pit after his headrest came lose.
Since the introduction of the points ban system in 2014, no driver is yet to reach the 12-point limit over a one-year period. However the fluster German Vettel and Russia’s Daniil Kvyat have now reached 12 points in total across the last three-and-a-half seasons.
The last driver to receive a ban was Haas F1’s very own Romain Grosjean back in 2012, for causing a huge first-lap pile up at that year’s Belgian GP whilst driving for Lotus.
With the Austrian Gran Prix two weeks away, I will be interesting to see just how Vettel responds to the critical response of this weeks race.
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