Vettel on current state of F1: "It's not the sport I fell in love with"
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel has expressed his displeasure with the current state of Formula 1, saying it's not the sport he fell in love with while watching in his youth, as he got a win stripped away in Canada by a five-second penalty late-on.
The German was having a good race after taking pole position on Saturday, but ultimately was hit with a five-second penalty for going on the grass and then cutting off the opportunistic Lewis Hamilton, who tried to get past.
It was a very controversial decision and one that Vettel openly disagreed with as he went on the team radio to express his disbelief. After the race, the four-time champion stormed off to his motorhome rather than doing his media duties with Martin Brundle on the grid, before coming out again and switching the signs on his and Hamilton's car so it said his Ferrari was number one.
"I really love my racing. I'm a purist," Vettel said at the FIA's post-race press conference.
"It's not just about that decision today. There's other decisions. And the wording when people come on the radio we have now - we have an official language that I think is all wrong. We should be able to say what we think, but we're not.
"I'm not happy about all this complaining and stuff that we see so many times. It's racing. It's common sense.
"In this regard, I disagree with where the sport is now. We have all this wording - I gained an advantage, I didn't gain an advantage, I avoided a collision, all this - I just think it's wrong. It's not really what we're going in the car.
"Nowadays I don't like it. We all sound a bit like lawyers using the official language and I just think it gives no edge to people and no edge to the sport. Ultimately it's not the sport I fell in love with when I was watching [as a child]."