Why Vettel left the driver's briefing and risked a fine

Sebastian Vettel has been given a suspended €25,000 fine after running away during a drivers' briefing in Austria. However, the question is what exactly happened to cause the German to walk away.

On Saturday it emerged that Vettel had to report to the stewards. The four-time world champion had left on his own initiative at a drivers' briefing, where you are not allowed to leave without permission from the stewards. Vettel did so anyway, after a discussion that became too long in his opinion.

According to Michael Schmidt of Auto, Motor und Sport, Fernando Alonso was the one who caused the delay. In Canada, the Spaniard was given a five-second penalty for moving frequently on the straight to keep Valtteri Bottas behind him, causing the Alpine driver to drop another two places from P7 to P9 after the race. Since that penalty, Alonso has taken every opportunity when he sees a similar incident go unpunished to alert the stewards to their inconsistency.

So in Austria, Alonso would have done this again. It would have been a long monologue with no clear response from either the stewards or the race directors. Vettel had had enough, because it led nowhere and therefore decided to leave. He was given a suspended penalty, but it clearly shows the dissatisfaction with the actions of F1's governing body.