FIA hits back after Vettel-criticism: "No idea what he means"

After Sebastian Vettel publicly criticized the Virtual Safety Car concept for being exploited by every team, F1 racing director Charlie Whiting has commented on it by saying he doesn't understand how Vettel thinks the system gets exploited.

The German Ferrari driver argued that drivers would simply choose the line with the shortest distance so they covered the least distance possible, thus exploiting the VSC and gaining ground where they shouldn't. Talking to Autosport, Charlie Whiting doesn't understand where Vettel is coming from.

"I honestly have no idea," he insisted.

"The VSC is a certain mode in the engine that makes every driver 30% slower per lap.

"Every 50 metres, we measure whether the drivers are adhering to that, making exploitation impossible.

"The racing line isn't the fastest line for nothing, so I don't really get the commentary by Vettel."

Fair point. The racing line is the fastest line already, so how could a driver benefit from driving a lesser distance? It doesn't really add up. Maybe Vettel was just angry and needed something to blame after his P4-finish.