Sebastian Vettel has been given a three-place grid drop for failing to slow sufficiently under red flags during practice at the United States GP.
The German failed to stay above the earliest time of arrival at sectors six and seven on the Circuit of the Americas track when the morning practice had been suspended to clear gravel dragged onto the racing line by Charles Leclerc after an off at Turn 10.
It is the third time this season a driver has been penalised for the offence with Daniel Ricciardo in Australia and Esteban Ocon two weeks ago in Japan both found guilty and also given a three-place grid drop.
The FIA also come down very hard for even the smallest breach of this regulation with their statement describing it as a “very serious matter”.
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For Vettel, the timing couldn’t be worse on a weekend when he has to finish at least second to keep the championship alive with Lewis Hamilton needing to score eight more points to seal the deal in Austin just as he did in 2015.
Understandably, he was very unhappy with the decision when commenting afterwards.
“I saw the red flag, I slowed down, had a look around where the car was potentially stuck in the wall if there was one around Turns 9 and 10 and then slowed down significantly to comply with the rules,” he said.
“They [the stewards] found I took too long [to slow down].
“I think it’s the first time we’ve had this in the wet and in the wet the target is a lot slower so I literally had to stop to 30kph or 40, 50kph to bring down the delta which probably I should do next time.
“In my opinion, it’s not the right thing if there’s a car behind might run into you but it’s more important that you don’t get a penalty.”
Adding further to Vettel’s frustration, Hamilton was over a second clear in both practice sessions despite completing just a combined three timed laps in both.