Ferrari’s request for the controversial penalty which cost Sebastian Vettel victory at the Canadian Grand Prix to be reviewed has been dismissed, meaning Lewis Hamilton’s victory stands.
Vettel crossed the line in first place in Canada on May 9 but was penalised five seconds for an incident on lap 48 of the grand prix, dropping him behind Lewis Hamilton in the final classification. The incident had seen him run wide and rejoin the track ahead of Hamilton in what the stewards deemed to be an unsafe manner.
The team presented what it called “overwhelming” new evidence, which it felt warranted a review of the incident. In a statement handed out shortly after Friday’s second practice session for the French GP, the Canadian Grand Prix stewards, who were reconvened in France, said there were “no significant or new elements” presented.
Ahead of the hearing, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies said: “We believe that this evidence is quite overwhelming when it comes to establishing that Sebastian did not breach any regulation.”
The evidence was as follows:
(i) Analysis of the telemetry data of VET’s car, including car attitude channels;
(ii) A video analysis of the camera views (front view, top view, onboard cameras of VET and HAM) prepared after the race;
(iii) A video analysis performed by Karun Chandhok for Sky Sports after the race;
(iv) A video of VET’s face camera, which was released by F1 Limited after the race;
(v) Post-race and video images;
(vi) Analysis of the GPS racing line data of both HAM and VET in the Situation lap and in the previous race laps; and
(vii) Witness statement of VET (the “VET WS”).
The stewards determined that all of the elements were either not new or were not relevant or significant. Addressing each individual point, the stewards issued the following reasons:
“Elements (i), (ii), (v), (vi) & (vii) were available before the end of the competition.
“Element (iii) was new but not significant and relevant as this is a personal opinion by a third party.
“Element (iv) was new but not significant and relevant as the evidence contained in this video footage can be seen within other available video.”
As a result, the official classification of the Canadian Grand Prix remains unchanged with Hamilton’s win secure and Vettel in second.