Following what can only be described as a foolish and childish intentional collision with Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, four-time World Drivers’ Champion Sebastian Vettel has been given three penalty points by the stewards. Although it’s his first penalty points of 2017, he is just three points away from a race ban. Let’s take a look back at the other penalty points on his record.
A gearbox change meant that Vettel would have to serve a five-place grid penalty, demoting him to P11 after qualifying. With Vettel starting on the back foot, the German knew he would need to push to recover and keep his championship hopes alive. However, he pushed a bit too hard in turn 2 on lap 36 of the race, as he attempted to overtake the Williams of Felipe Massa. The Ferrari came up the inside, but Vettel had overshot the corner due to his lack of grip. This maneuver forced Massa to run wide off of the track. The incident later resulted in a five second time penalty, which didn’t impact the race results, and two penalty points on his license.
The 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix didn’t last long for Vettel, as the Ferrari driver found himself out of the race at the first corner. Starting behind Max Verstappen on the grid, the Ferrari got a fantastic start. Vettel dove to the outside down the main straight to block Daniel Ricciardo and attempt to overtake Verstappen. Running out of straight, Vettel tucked back behind Verstappen as they prepared to enter the first corner. As they began to brake for the corner, Vettel got on the inside of Verstappen, making in three wide momentarily. Vettel was not on a good line and ran wide, colliding with the rear of Nico Rosberg, spinning him around. Vettel retired from the race with suspension damage, but was later given a three-place grid penalty for the following round and an additional two points added to his license.
The Mexican Grand Prix was a frustrating race for Vettel in 2016. In the first corner of the circuit late in the race, Verstappen missed the braking point and ran wide through the grass to rejoin the track. Vettel believed that Verstappen should be forced to give the place to Vettel. Instead, Verstappen stayed ahead and Vettel found himself falling prey to the pursuing Daniel Ricciardo. By the penultimate lap, Ricciardo was ready to attempt to overtake Vettel in turn four. When he tried to do so, Vettel blocked the inside overtake, causing the drivers to have minor contact at various points through the corner. Verstappen was stripped of his podium finish before the celebrations, allowing Vettel to take the bottom step of the podium. However, he was later given a 10 second time penalty for moving under braking, dropping him to fifth position and awarding him two penalty points on his license.
At the recent race in Azerbaijan, Hamilton appeared to have brake-tested Vettel prior to the restart, causing Vettel to rear end the Mercedes. A frustrated Vettel then moved to the left side of Hamilton’s car and made intentional wheel-to-wheel contact before returning to his position. The stewards investigated the telemetry of the incident and determined that Hamilton had not taken the restart any different than the other times in the race and that he had not brake-tested the Ferrari. However, they did decided that Vettel’s dangerous move warranted a 10 second stop and go penalty with an additional 3 points.
The most recent incident puts Vettel’s championship battle in jeopardy. If Vettel earns another three penalty points in the Austrian Grand Prix, he would be facing a race ban under the regulations for having 12 penalty points within 12 months. However, his two penalty points from the 2016 British Grand Prix are set to expire the Monday following the Austrian Grand Prix, so if Vettel can keep it clean during that race, he will be in the clear.
