Sebastian Vettel cleared after radio rant

  • Published on 02 Nov 2016 09:53
  • 6
  • By: Dominik Wilde

The FIA have revealed that Sebastian Vettel will face no further punishment for his Mexican Grand Prix radio outbursts after making a series of apologies to Charlie Whiting and the governing body.

The FIA were investgating Vettel after he was heard over the radio telling race director Whiting to **** off.

But Whiting revealed that Vettel had apologised, and as a result he considred the matter closed.

"He did say sorry," Whiting told the Daily Mail. "He was quite robust about finding me and apologising. Given he has done that I'm not too hung up on it personally, but it remains to be seen how my boss may wish to pursue the matter."

After the Grand Prix, FIA president Jean Todt ordered an investigation into the incident, but it has now revealed in a statement that Vettel had"apologised profusely" in writing to Todt, and also said that the quadruple world champion would "be contacting" Max Verstappen after calling the young Dutchman a "****".

While Vettel will escape with no further punishment, the statement added: "In the event of any future incident similar to the one that occurred in Mexico, disciplinary action will be taken by bringing such incident before the FIA international tribunal to be judged."

Replies (6)

Login to reply
  • Kevin

    Posts: 5,332

    The right decision imo. He said some things in the heat of the moment that he should not have said. He acknowledged that and aplogised. Now it's time to get back to duty.

    As I said before, I prefer an incidental outburst of an F1 driver, over the political comments many give. They are humans with emotions, just like any other human around. As long as they can reflect on their own behaviour and apologise for any wrongs they made, I think it's acceptable. It would become a problem when Vettel could not reflect, and had claimed he was in the right by behaving like that. These guys are highly competitive when in the car, but most of them become totally different persons when outside the car. I think it should be like that, and we should not transform them into politically correct talking brand robots.

    • + 1
    • Nov 2 2016 - 10:38
    • But don't expect sensible reactions from Internet SJWs, there are a lot in here XD. internet SJWs want nothing short of burning at the stake, because somehow these famous people are supposed to supplant the SJW' parenting skill =))

      • + 0
      • Nov 2 2016 - 12:58
    • dr002

      Posts: 141

      @Mclarenfan1968, I have to admit that I am disappointed by the decision. I had no problem with Vettel sounding off at Max, but when a sportsman threatens to punch someone and abuse an official because he didn’t get his way, I would hope there are sanctions dished out, regardless of who they are and whether or not they apologised after the fact…. I love playing sport, and I love the intensity and emotion that arises out of adversity in the ‘field of battle’, but there is nothing worse than when out on the paddock a player starts threatening another player or abusing the ref….. For me, it’s not about role models as much as it is about having an ideal of sportsmanship and an integrity that honours the game. I agree with you that it is up to parents to teach kids what is right or wrong, the problem is that some parents don’t. F1 is supposed to be the elite of sport and I’d have expected more from it. If that makes me a SJW, so be it.

      • + 1
      • Nov 2 2016 - 20:30
    • lol wut? Vettel didn't try to punch someone, way to go with the strawman! He swore like a lot of people do, big deal, get over yourself. Yeah you do sound like a silly SJW making stuff up to make your case. You failed spectacularly with the strawman argument. Typical.

      • + 0
      • Nov 3 2016 - 15:41
  • I would have expected a suspended penalty.

    Now it is nothing but if the next one (not a WC mind you) will use profanity...

    Vettel will need to do some soul searching. He comes across very frustrated.

    • + 0
    • Nov 2 2016 - 10:39
    • Kevin

      Posts: 5,332

      I am sure his frustration has got the better of him. It's becoming Alonso 2.0 at Ferrari. He expected to go forward with Ferrari, but all they do is going backwards, and him getting beaten by his former team will not do his emotions any good.

      Compare it to last year, where he seemed so relaxed after a bad year at Red Bull. Two different worlds lol. If Ferrari cannot live up to expectations next season, I think there is a strong possibility of him leaving the team. Perhaps even leaving the sport all together.

      • + 0
      • Nov 2 2016 - 10:45

Related news