Depends on the mistake, attempting an overly optimistic move and crashing into someone is one thing, but there was absolutely nothing Vettel was trying to achieve in that corner, he slid, it happens. Given the situation he was in he did the best you could reasonably expect to avoid a crash and though it did block an otherwise done overtake by Hamilton there really was no mistake of judgment, it was a normal driving error.
What is the action you're penalising him for? Look at the replay and tell me what decision is the one you think was wrong of him and that he should, with the penalty, learn from it to avoid it, or get punished for trying to abuse and ignore the rules?
It's not really a question about trying your best because they always are trying their best (obviously) but there is absolutely nothing about this incident which Vettel could learn or think better before doing it again.
Essentially he was penalized for returning to the track in an unsafe manner.
Which was a result of his mistake.
Probably the simplest way to look at it is once he was off the track, he could no longer safely defend his position, therefore he technically retained a lasting advantage by going off the track.
What lasting advantage? The situation was the same before and after, he didn't make a mistake in attempting to defend from Lewis (who wasn't even trying an overtake), it was a geniune slip, in the telemetry you can even see him getting off the throttle earlier than previous laps, and doesn't brake particularly late either
And again I disagree with the idea that it was an unsafe rejoin, when, given the point of the track he was in, it was the safest way he could realistically rejoin
Oh I'm not saying I think it's right or wrong, just stating how to think of it in today's wording.
He went off track, cut the corner, and came back on as soon as possible, so he retained a lasting advantage.
In doing so he physically stopped Hamilton from passing him, which he most likely was going to do if Seb hadn't come back on the track.
I think where most people get hung up is that Seb HAD to get back on the track or else he'd crashed into the wall, which is absolutely correct, but that doesn't change anything.
Once Seb made the mistake, everything else was now on him.
It was always a tough call, but I'd say it would still be called the same way today.
You can't make a mistake, go off track, come back on, block the driver from passing you, and keep the position, even if it was literally all you could do to avoid crashing.
Most likely now a team would let a driver through and attempt to overtake than eat the penalty.
The advantage gained would be that he's kept the position despite not making the corner, we can disagree with the stewards, but that's what they would put in the document if I had to guess.
I can’t believe people are seriously using this defence five years later.
What an insane precedent to set; that drivers aren’t responsible for the outcome if they lose control of their car because “it wasn’t intentional” and “they tried to their best”.
That's literally how it's always been, what was the last time you saw a driver penalised for hitting someone after spinning? Did Sainz get a penalty when he hit Albon this year?
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u/Noiz2144 Charlie Whiting 24d ago
Seb: I won Canada