Vettel avoids punishment because of "severe vibrations"

Sebastian Vettel has been cleared of any wrongdoing during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix after he was summoned to the stewards for a slow in lap.

Vettel qualified second behind teammate Charles Leclerc after he achieved his maiden pole position in just his second race for Ferrari. However, Vettel was not so lucky after he was called to the stewards and faced a penalty for failing to stay between the maximum time between safety car lines.

However, the German is now clear to start on the front row of the grid after the stewards were satisfied that it was caused by flat-spotting on his front tyres. He didn’t complete the lap and admitted the car was “experiencing severe vibrations”.

The stewards agreed after Ferrari provided evidence that he was not able to drive quickly enough to reach the time limit.