Race analysis GP Canada 2019: Ferrari protest in Montreal

Can Ferrari successfully challenge the Vettel penalty?

T he Grand Prix of Canada was decided on lap 48 in the first chicane. Due to the turbulence of some lapped competitors, Sebastian Vettel briefly broke the rear of the car when braking into Turn 3, which forced the Ferrari onto the meadow. When trying to maneuver the car safely back onto the track, the Heppenheimer rolled right in front of his pursuer Lewis Hamilton, which forced the world champion to brake.

The FIA ​​commissioners rated the incident as a “dangerous return the route ', which was punished with a five-second time penalty and two points for the list of sinners. As a precedent case, the referees had a scene from the race in Suzuka last year in mind. At that time, Max Verstappen also had to go into the meadow due to a mistake in the chicane. On his return, the Dutchman had pushed Kimi Raikkonen away and therefore also received a five-second penalty.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto, like many others in the paddock, couldn't understand the verdict at all: “Sebastian was lucky that he made it back safely on the track. Therefore we do not agree with the punishment. The viewers clearly expressed their opinion. ”

Normally, such factual decisions can no longer be challenged afterwards. Ferrari nevertheless decided to deposit the letter of intent with the FIA ​​for an official objection. After that, the Scuderia now have 96 hours to finally decide whether they want to seek legal repercussions.

If that is the case, the FIA ​​arbitration tribunal must first consider the objection as well-founded and allow it. In order to have at least a small chance of success, Ferrari would have to present the judges with new evidence or important information that was not yet available to the commissioners when the first verdict was reached. That could be telemetry data, for example.

But it is more than questionable whether this really changes the situation so much that the scene is viewed in a completely new light. Even if the process were to be allowed, the chances of getting the lost victory at the Green Table back are more than slim. The only sensible reason for Ferrari to go to the appeals court would be to set an example and show solidarity with your driver.

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Nico Hülkenberg had to hold back in the Renault duel.

Why was Hülkenberg after the Race angry?

At Renault there was a collective sigh of relief. Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg took 6th and 7th place, an important 14 points on the team account. The works racing team jumped from eighth to fifth in the World Championship in one go. But Nico Hülkenberg was angry in the first moment after the race despite the first World Championship points since the season opener.

15 laps before the end of the pits came the command 'Hold position.' It's bullshit! ”When the race engineer asks his driver again to let himself fall back a little to cool the car, Hülk replied dryly:“ I can just drive past and then cool my car. ”Only the third request followed finally to the speed reduction.

Hülkenberg has been driving in the DRS area of ​​his team mate since the 49th lap. Before that he had made up between three and eight tenths per lap on Ricciardo. “When you get the order that you are no longer allowed to attack, you are frustrated at first. I had worked out a tire advantage against Daniel because I held out with the first set until lap 16 and kept the soft tires in good shape. That's why I had the fresher tires in the end. ”

After the race, the tall Rhinelander quickly cooled off:“ I can somehow understand the team. We have this yearso many points were given away that we had to play it safe this time. We urgently needed this result. 'Operations manager Alan Permane agrees:' In our current situation it would have been negligent to risk points in a duel. Once we have consolidated ourselves later in the season, the two of them will be able to race against each other again. ”

Hülkenberg was amazed at how long he was able to drive at high speed on the delicate soft tires. “I took the first three laps slowly. Then I realized that I could easily keep up with the pace of the people in front of me and at the same time save tires. I could have delayed the pit stop even longer. But the boys were afraid that Gasly would pass Stroll and then quickly be in our pit stop window. ”

Why was there an argument at Haas?

There was also after that at Haas Crossing the finish line Needs clarification. After his qualifying crash, Kevin Magnussen drove out of the pit lane with a new chassis. But the race didn't make any real progress. “We tried something new with the setup because we had to take risks. Unfortunately, that didn't work. That's why the pace was so bad, ”explained team boss Guenther Steiner.

The driver followed hopelessly with no chance of points. Magnussen let his frustration run free over the radio. “This is the worst racing car I've ever had,” he whined in the ear of his race engineer. Because the Dane could not be reassured at all, even the team boss personally interfered in the communication. 'Enough is enough,' Steiner snapped at his protégé in the meantime.

According to the South Tyrolean, Magnussen was angry with the overall situation. “But you could also have thought he was scolding the team. And that after the guys had to work a night shift just to get the car to start. That's why I got involved. But Kevin apologized to everyone on the radio immediately after the race. We have spoken out. That is the end of the matter. ”