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Whiting: Vettel penalised because he didn't do a good enough job

Whiting: Vettel penalised because "he didn't do a good enough job"

24-10-2018 14:07

Charlies Whiting says Sebastian Vettel was penalised because "he didn't do a good enough job." That's probably a phrase he's heard frequently over the last couple of months as his challenge for the 2018 World Championship slips away. The penalty for failing to slow down under red flags didn't do him any favours either.

The German was awarded a three-place grid penalty for the United States Grand Prix for the red flag incident on Friday.

As always, Whiting backs the decision made by his stewards.

"[Previously] there was no principle requirement to say exactly how much you would slow down when a red flag was given, which seemed at odds with having to do it when a safety car or VSC is out," Whiting said f1i.

“It was a logical thing to do, the teams felt, to use exactly the same system for a red flag."

"We’ve had three cases now where drivers have failed to stick to that," he pointed out. “One of them was a mistake from a driver who admitted what he’d done, that was Daniel in Australia. Esteban was in Suzuka, and Seb this time.

"I don’t know exactly what they did or why they didn’t adhere to the delta time but they seem to manage it perfectly well when the safety car or VSC is out.

"I don’t know whether it’s a matter of whether drivers don’t remember," he said. "It’s pretty clear as every light panel is showing bright red.

“It’s not as if you can actually miss it. But he did. He didn’t do a good enough job on that particular occasion, I just think it was a driver mistake."