Vettel: This is not the F1 I fell in love with

Sebastian Vettel has vented his frustration at the current state of Formula 1 and says he’s falling out of love with the sport due to the overregulation and decision-making following his Canadian Grand Prix defeat.

The Ferrari driver had been defending his race lead from Lewis Hamilton at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve when on Lap 48 he slid off track at Turn 4 before cutting across the grass ahead of the Mercedes driver and duly retained his lead.

The incident was instantly put under investigation and the FIA race stewards slapped Vettel with a five-second time penalty. With Hamilton finishing directly behind Vettel he inherited the win on adjusted times which led to Vettel venting his anger at the penalty and the current F1 rules.

Speaking during the post-race press conference, Vettel went into detail on how the rules give F1 “no edge” and says his frustration at the penalty follows a long line of similar incidents which have left him feeling bitter about the sport.

“I think it just gives no edge to people and no edge to the sport. Ultimately it’s not the sport that I fell in love with when I was watching,” Vettel said. “Obviously it hurts me because it impacts on my race result but I think this more of a bigger criteria.

“The old Formula 1 drivers and people in the grandstands and so on, would agree that this is just part of racing but nowadays. I don’t like it, we all sound a bit like lawyers and using the official language.

 “I really love my racing. I’m a purist, I love going back and looking at the old times, the old cars, the old drivers. It’s an honour when you have the chance to meet them and talk to them; they’re heroes in a way. So I really love that but I just wish I was maybe as good, doing what I do, but being in their time rather than today.”

Vettel has hit out at the current F1 sporting rules and has called for common sense to prevail rather than the frequent penalties used for on-track incidents.

“I think it’s not just about that decision today, there’s other decisions. Just hearing the wording when people come on the radio, that we have now. We have an official language, I think it’s all wrong,” he said.

“I think we should be able to say what we think but we’re not so in this regard I disagree with where the sport is now.

“You have all this wording ‘I gained an advantage, I didn’t gain an advantage, I avoided a collision’. I just think it’s wrong, you know, it’s not really what we’re doing in the car. It’s racing, it’s common sense.”

Ferrari has confirmed its intent to appeal the decision following the Canadian Grand Prix which gives the Italian team 96 hours to launch an official complaint.

Vettel’s penalty was widely criticised by both current F1 figures and former drivers after the race.