What Vettel did was fair enough in terms of not hitting Button.

However, he only needed to relinquish the position and all would be fine.

He didn't though.

More importantly, the team didn't tell him to and they OBVIOUSLY saw what was going on.

SO in essence, they tried to cheat and it is for that reason they got the punishment.

I am getting a bit annoyed with Red Bull now, they seem to be cheating all too often, they have had several designs/parts outlawed despite having used them to attain championship points.

The thing is, they have the ability to go to Charlie and ask 'Is this legal?' If he says yes then there is no issue, but they don't they stick a dubious part on the car and take advantage until it is banned. Regardless of the performance, that is CHEATING.

So I do feel sorry for Vettel because I have no doubt, in the heat of battle, he'd have thought he was in the right. The team, ultimately, let him down.

 

You are absolutely right, but as usual in Motorsport the winner is always the one that cheat and with the most money. That is the fact no one can change.

Same with brawn double diffuser, now with double drs, mclaren f duct, William dynamic suspension...etc they were all using the grey area within the rules. Redbull is just an extreme case that pushing the limit so many times almost every race but that's what push all the other teams to come up with new ideas to catch up. That's what is doing to F1 in the recent year and make it more and more interesting, every teams is now pushing harder than ever to make themself more competitive.

So all this redbull cheating is not actually a bad thing, is good for the sport and also good for the media. They are obviously doing their PR thing right, cheating is probably part of their marketing plan, if not we wont be talking about Redbull here now. The more people talk about Redbull, the more people will go buy their energy drink.

 

Cheating is such a strong word to use. It falls under the same category as love and hate.

I do agree they are exploiting every option available to them and pushing the envelope. But they have been known for that and I believe it has made the sport better. Its just like when the S2000 was introduced. The Boxter and z3 were out there and quite frankly sucked. When the S2000 was introduced it kicked their tails and was much cheaper it caused them to go back to the drawing board and ramp it up!

I don't think Horner let Vettel down. He saw that it was going to be close and he went back to his old saying that he was letting him race. He knew it was close and probably going to get penalized but he has a lot of character and will always back his drivers EVEN if he knows that they are wrong.

 

Double diffuser was legal. This very fact was mentioned in the technical working group before the 2009 season started!

And as I said, the car was cleared with the FIA - job done.

So pushing the limits of the rules/formula is great and if you present to the FIA before using the modification, all happy.

Red Bull are playing a different game of better to gain forgiveness than ask for permission.

It's cheating and it needs to stop.

 

I felt sorry for him when he was explaining that he ran wide so as to avoid Button who he claimed he couldn't see.

Then I saw the footage again. He knew what he was doing.

It's patently obvious he could see Button who was half a length ahead as they came to the exit of the corner.
Vettel realises that Button is too far over for him to get all 4 wheels on the circuit, and he'd have to try and out drag Button from the corner with 2 wheels on the kerb. There's a likelihood of either spinning away power and being outdragged or simply losing the back end if he tried to do a full bore, KERS assisted run with tyres on painted kerb so he moves onto the tarmac on the outside of the kerbing for better traction.

This is clearly against the rules, he "gains a clear advantage" from leaving the confines of the circuit and the stewards saw this. The operative word is 'clear' - it's clear to see he may not have been able to out-drag Button had he not left the circuit.

It's unusual for Vettel to be this desperate, but I think his stress showed in the way he drove after Button went past and the fact it was his home GP, he let his emotions get away from him on Sunday a little I feel.

 

Look at when he straightens the wheel and gets the power down.

Additionally, the comments made by Vettel and Horner in the immediate aftermath had the air of "getting our story straight" about them.

The penalty was a bit harsh though, but consistent in terms of what was given to Hamilton in Spa 2008.

 

Still, it should have been the team that told him to relinquish the position.

Like I said, in the heat of battle, things happen and you do, as you said about Vettel, get desperate.

The team should have immediately told him the situation as there are tens of them sitting in a room all looking at monitors and footage for reasons like this.

 

Anyone remember how Hamilton passed Rosberg at Bahrain???

 

I think Vettel often does this, and I think in a nutshell this is why I don't rate him very highly.

His team exacerbate my dislike of Vettel, RedBull cheat and very often.

 

That was different, Hamilton was 'pushed' to the outer track by Rosberg, Hamilton had no choice but to go off the track or crash. Of course he could have never attempted the move at all, but that is not what racing drivers do is it