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Nico Rosberg has delivered his verdict on Sebastian Vettel's five-second time penalty that denied the Ferrari driver his first race victory of the 2019 season.
Rosberg believes that the penalty was warranted following Vettel's attempts to rejoin the track, as he slid across the track while battling Lewis Hamilton for the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
MORE: Ferrari lodges intent to appeal Vettel's five-second time penalty | Ferrari 'forgot' to tell Leclerc about Vettel's penalty
Hamilton was forced to back off when Vettel rejoined, which Rosberg is adamant is clear evidence in the case for the penalty.
Prior to giving his opinion, Rosberg admitted that he was rooting for Vettel to take the win in the interest of the world championship, as Mercedes has now won all seven races of the 2019 F1 season so far.
"First of all, it's the same as usual," the 2016 world champion said while live streaming on his YouTube channel. "When Lewis and Vettel are together, Lewis puts the pressure on and we saw the typical thing, when the pressure is on and it's a battle between Lewis and Vettel, Vettel just makes those mistakes.
"The pressure is on lap after lap and then he goes off the track. He goes off the track and rejoins screaming 'I had dirt on my tyres, I was out of control, where do you want me to go, I couldn't see Lewis'.
"But Lewis is there, and the rules say that when you go off the track, you need to rejoin safely. Vettel went all the way across and I think he easily could have left more space. Especially in the latter phase, when Lewis started braking, he could've easily left more space.
"But he didn't, and Lewis saw it as a dangerous situation. I looked at the replay many many times - Lewis would've been in the wall had he stayed there. Vettel moved over more and more, and it was so tight, that Lewis would've touch either him or the wall.
"It's very clear that unfortunately, it was an unsafe return to the track. You have to return safely, so a penalty is deserved in that case."
Rosberg added that he consoled with his father Keke about the situation, who considers the incident to be 40, not a penalty, and 60% a penalty.
Rosberg said that Keke made the point that Vettel had grass on his tyres and little grip to return to the circuit.
"I know that, but so what?" Rosberg said. "You still need to return safely and if you're out of control, you're not returning safely. So that's it, the penalty is deserved. It's not a valid excuse.
"But I fully agree that it sucks to have this kind of penalties. We want to see some great racing, and this was great racing."
It's not like he has an ongoing partnership with mercedes which would make him biased. PS I swear everything that comes out of his mouth is garbage.
You attack the individual, but how exactly is he wrong? Sure he has reason to be biased, but that's not an argument
Vettel won the race. But, bureaucracy won the battle.
Indeed, and on top of that: inconsistent bureaucracy. Many examples in the past where other drivers go off track, rejoins the best way they can, obstruct the driver behind just after rejoining and NOT getting a penalty.
One example i can think off: Hamilton - Ricciardo monaco 2016, where Hamilton cuts the chicane, rejoins the track after the chicane but blocks Ricciardo while joining. No penalty. So Fia-stewards are not consistent.
Why don’t they just post ‘give way’ signs at all the grass verges, oh and put indicators on all the cars so another driver knows someone is going to pull out - from the grass at god knows how many km/hr, slippy tyres, fighting with the steering to try and make the car go where it might actually reach the tarmac and not spear into the barriers on the opposite side in all of what 1-2 seconds.? It’s a race track for god’s sake not a motorway entry slip road. Pathetic decision turning F1 into a prissy none spectacle. Same goes for all the quali ‘impeding’ issues.
Vettel fucked up guys, simple as that and sadly all too often. He drove brilliantly all weekend and should have won, but once again, he got it wrong, like countless times before and paid the penalty. This was the least penalty that could have been tabled. He finished second and thats no disaster, frankly his actions were more akin to diverting attention away from the fact that once again, he fucked up. Im a fan of Vettel, I really am, but he isn't in the same class as other top drivers, he's being exposed now he isn't in the best car on the grid and it must be uncomfortable. He either re-enters the track unsafely or he doesn't leave enough room against the wall for another car - which one is it? It has to be one of them. The people complaining, and I understand it, are doing so I suspect because they feel robbed of a modicum of completion in this year's championship. If it's the rules people are criticising then what people are saying is they would prefer a 'show' instead of a race, where all rules must be followed - I think we saw recently that Verstappen was on the receiving end of something similar 10 or 11 races ago - has to be consistency. Anyways, let's hope Seb can have a dominant winning performance for the next few races - and the talk be about his driving rather than the rules.
Hamilton saw the bobble he paused then accelerated then braked to avoid the collision he could have easily went underneath.vettel came off the grass sideways and then hit the pavement and the gathered up Lewis was it Lewis that caused the accident as he forced Deb to make the mistake ?
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edmond.horsten
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It's not like he has an ongoing partnership with mercedes which would make him biased. PS I swear everything that comes out of his mouth is garbage.