Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, criticised race officials for reacting so slowly with respect to giving him a time penalty at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
Vettel’s car brakes had overheated on his way to the starting grid which led him to start from the pitlane. The Aston Martin mechanics removed the car from the grid but could not get everything ready in the given deadline of five minutes. This led to a 10 second stop/go penalty on the team.
However, this was not communicated to the team until 20 minutes into the race. This created a hindrance for Vettel’s race strategy and he was not happy about it.
“The guys tried everything on the grid and I think they did really well, so they were really alert. But I think we could have had a better race if the FIA was more alert,” the German told Sky Sports.
“We broke a rule, I guess. That’s why we got a penalty. But they didn’t bother (saying so) until way into the race. By that time the penalty cost a lot more than it would have early in the race so that’s not very professional.”
Vettel’s Canadian teammate Lance Stroll managed to score points for the team. Even though Stroll also faced pre-race brake issues and a gearshift issue, he managed a seventh-place finish.
“I guess he got lucky that he didn’t have to start from the pitlane,” said Vettel.
“It’s good to at least get some points.”
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