F1 News

FIA makes Vettel's weekend even worse: Grid penalty after ignoring yellow flags

28 March 2021 at 13:43
Last update 28 March 2021 at 16:06
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  • GPblog.com

Sebastian Vettel's first race weekend with Aston Martin gets worse. The German crashed out in the first part of qualifying on Saturday and a few hours before the race the FIA has announced that the four-time world champion will also receive a grid penalty of five places.

This means that Vettel will not start from his original 18th position on the grid, but will start from last. The German was already examined yesterday because of the incident, but the stewards needed more time to come to a decision. The two Haas drivers have moved up the grid and Vettel will start the race from P20. He received the penalty for not respecting the yellow flags at the first corner.

Vettel ignored smoke from Mazepin

"Vettel did not slow down and explained to the stewards that he saw smoke in front of him, but was not sure if it was a locked-up wheel or a stopped car, until he got closer and the smoke cleared. The stewards saw that he had already passed a panel displaying the yellow flag," said the FIA statement. In addition to the grid penalty, the German will also receive three penalty points on his license.