At the US Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel gets a three-place grid penalty as he failed to reduce his speed were red flags were waved at the practice session.
As a result of the Charles Leclerc’s spin that happened in Turn 9, the red flags came out and the Sauber driver pulled back the gravel onto the racing track.
With the help of the video footage, the authorities found that Vettel slowed down his car as soon as the red flags came out. But then, Vettel was called to meet the attendants towards the end of the practice session – he was accused of not maintaining enough speed that would meet the stern timing deltas. This was the usual standard that drivers were expected to adhere to.
Similar incidents happened two weeks ago in Suzuka for Esteban Ocon, and in Australia for Daniel Ricciardo. The race attendants in order to be consistent with those previous decisions handed 2 penalty points along with the grid drop on Sebastian Vettel’s Super License.
After the meet with the stewards, Vettel felt like he has resigned when he was facing the media.
Sebastian Vettel was well aware of the fact that he must finish second at the finals of US Grand Prix if Hamilton once again wins this weekend in order to maintain his championship hopes active. But then, Hamilton was already looking fine as he already had topped both of rain-affected sessions that took place on Friday, a three-place penalty was issued for Vettel, which seemed unlikely.
Lewis Hamilton topped the scoreboard as he was consistently maintaining his performance and was the fastest in both sessions. He needs only 8 points to outscore Vettel and win the championship title this weekend.
Vettel was one among the 14 drivers on the race track when the red flag was waved out.
Source 1: www.formula1.com
Source 2: www.indiatoday.in
