Sebastian Vettel will drop three grid places at the Japanese Grand Prix, having been handed a penalty for his first corner accident in Malaysia. The incident put him out of the race and hindered Nico Rosberg’s performance, likely costing him an easy race victory.
The incident occurred at the first corner of the first lap of the race. Vettel’s start was a little better than Max Verstappen, so the German moved to the left-hand side of the Red Bull driver. He wasn’t able to get past, so he moved behind the Red Bull to take advantage of the slipstream. He quickly moved to Verstappen’s right-hand side just after the pit exit. Vettel had the inside, with Verstappen in the middle and Rosberg on the outside, as the trio went side-by-side-by-side into turn one. However, Vettel just couldn’t make the corner and ended up making contact with the rear of Rosberg’s car and front of Verstappen’s car.
The start of the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
The accident sent Rosberg into a spin, putting him into the rear of the field. Verstappen escaped without any serious damage. This was not the story for Vettel, as he was forced to stop his car with serious damage to his front-left suspension.
Sebastian Vettel has apologized for the incident, although he still maintains that this incident was different than the incident between Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen and himself in the Belgian Grand Prix:
“We had a good start, then I was going side by side with Max. We were both battling for position into turn one. Nico in the front was turning in and he obviously decided to pick his line, which is absolutely fair and in his right. At that point with the speed I had I couldn’t slow down anymore and I was also pushed by Max to the right. I did my best under braking but I couldn’t avoid the impact. It was an unfortunate chain reaction which ruined my race and Nico’s one. I can’t do more than apologize to Nico, because the accident had nothing to do with him being in front. I think it was different to the case in Spa with Max and Kimi, as Max and I were trying to fight for turn 1, and Nico was trying to do a different thing ahead. I don’t have to comment on what Max said afterwards.”
The stewards reviewed the video of the accident and spoke with the drivers involved. They found that Vettel was largely at fault for the accident and decided to hand him a penalty for causing a collision, however since Vettel had not completed the race, the stewards would not be able to give him a time penalty. They decided upon a three place grid penalty for the next round of the championship, along with two penalty points on his license.
