Jul 12
29
WORLD champion Sebastian Vettel has rapped Formula One’s race director over the controversial pass that cost him a podium in Germany.
Vettel was given a post-race 20secs penalty at Hockenheim for going off the track to overtake Jenson Button, demoting him from runner-up to fifth place.
As he prepared for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest, the Red Bull ace maintained the move was valid.
He insisted he went off line to avoid a collision with Button and not to gain an advantage.
But he hinted he would have given the place back to the Brit if F1 race director Charlie Whiting had considered it illegal and ordered him to cede.
Referring to the move, Vettel said: “For me it was fine, that’s why I did it. In the end it wasn’t fine, which is why I picked up the penalty, I guess.
“Obviously it would help to get feedback from the race director as soon as possible in that case, or from the team if we could get any idea from the outside.”
He added: “The only thing I wanted to do was avoid an accident.
“Surely if gravel had been there I would not have gone in the gravel. I did what I did, and nothing can change.”
Button, however, insists there was plenty of room on the track for both cars and that Vettel just put his foot down early and took a wider, faster line off the circuit.
The McLaren star said: “If you look at the throttle trace he got on it unusually early.
“There’s a rule which says that you can’t gain an advantage off the circuit, which is what he gained. The rule is what it is. We all have to abide by it.”
Articles are gathered and rebroadcast from public feeds: source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/motorsport/article4457950.ece
