Sebastian Vettel has been hit with a three-place grid drop for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver collided with Nico Rosberg at the first corner while battling with Max Verstappen on the approach to the long hairpin turn.
Vettel’s tighter line on the inside meant he was caught out by the slower Mercedes taking a much wider approach on entry and the pair met in the middle as Rosberg was spun around.
The incident ended Sebastian’s race on the spot, due to front suspension damage, but the Mercedes survived and the German was able to recover back to the podium.
Verstappen was very unhappy with the Ferrari driver’s actions describing him as an ‘idiot’ over the radio, however, for many the move was reminiscent of the Dutchman’s own dive up the inside into the first corner at Spa.
Therefore, to see Vettel penalised will be seen as harsh by a few for an incident that is quite common at the start in Sepang.
However, the stewards pointed at the proportion of blame he had in causing the collision with Rosberg and deemed the consequences of the incident sufficient to warrant the penalty.
“The stewards determined that although the cars involved in the incident were all moving at relatively similar speeds, Vettel made a small error entering to the inside of Turn 1 that led to the contact with Rosberg.
“As a consequence, Rosberg was caused to spin from second place and lose multiple positions, which the stewards determined was predominantly the fault of Vettel and therefore ordered the penalty for causing a collision.”
The grid drop could also make for another difficult weekend for Vettel at Suzuka, a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
To be potentially dropping back into the Williams, McLaren and Force India battle will only hamper their chances against Red Bull at a venue their closest rivals should be strong at.
Certainly, after watching Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen claim a one-two finish at Sepang, the chances of claiming second in the Constructors’ championship seem to be getting slimmer and slimmer.
