Sebastian Vettel was penalised with a 5-second time penalty and 1 penalty point after the German got in Lewis Hamilton’s way during the 2022 Dutch GP.
Fans and critics adore Sebastian Vettel for his racing honours, his jovial behaviour and for being a vocal critic on many issues. But he quickly turned from Hero to villain during the 2022 Dutch GP.
The German has lost his temper when slower, lapped cars ignore blue flags and obstruct his racing. But this time, Vettel spoilt his former title rival Lewis Hamilton’s race by ignoring blue flags.
In Lap 36, Lewis Hamilton was busy getting past the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Mercedes had shown a great pace that weekend. And both Mercedes had made it to the front row ahead of the safety car.
Finally, in lap 37, Hamilton makes a brilliant move around the Mexican and moves up to P3. But as he turned around to turn 1, Vettel exited the pit lane.
Vettel took his pit stop and would have been 16th when he rejoins the grid. His engineer made him aware that he would be facing Hamilton and Perez, who was still racing each other.
“Possibly Hamilton and Perez, who are blue flags for us, they are racing each other,” warned Vettel’s engineer as he left the pit late. He was further instructed to be “well clear” of the duo.
Vettel must have forgotten the instructions and came in Hamilton’s way. The Briton, furious at his former rival driving, shouted “Blue flags” on the radio.
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Mercedes after X-rated radio outburst during Dutch Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel receives a time penalty
Being an experienced driver and a race winner, Sebastian Vettel was expected to obey the rules. And as a punishment, Vettel was handed a 5-second time penalty from the FIA along with 1 penalty point.
This is his 2nd penalty point in the 12-month period. He received the other in the 2022 Austrian GP. This was handed out for exceeding track limits.
Vettel’s time Penalty did not hurt him much as he only finished P14 in the race. Mick Schumacher gave the German a hard challenge.
But the incident surely did affect Lewis Hamilton’s momentum. The Briton showed great pace, and Mercedes were among the faster cars during the weekend.
After overtaking Sergio Perez, Hamilton hunted down Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. And the Briton had enough steam to have won the race had fortunes favoured him
His performance was affected by the blue flags and the late VSC and safety car incident. Hamilton briefly led the race, but Max Verstappen overtook him and easily won his 10th race of the year.
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