Vettel confident Ferrari has new evidence for penalty review

Sebastian Vettel is confident Ferrari has collected new information ahead of the hearing over his controversial penalty during Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Vettel crossed the line in first place in Montreal but was handed a five-second time penalty for rejoining the circuit in an unsafe manner, instead handing victory to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari will argue its case to the stewards for why the incident should be re-assessed on Friday ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix, with the Scuderia required to provide new evidence that was not originally available.

“I still have the same view that I had two weeks ago, so we will see what happens,” Vettel said when questioned about the matter during Thursday’s media day at Paul Ricard.

“I think first of all it is to open the case again and have another look. We bring some information that maybe the stewards didn’t have at the time and we will see what happens.”

Vettel said he is ultimately hoping for more consistency surrounding similar incidents in future.

“The GPDA speaks on behalf of all the drivers, and I think we’ve expressed more than once that what we want is consistency with decisions,” he explained.

“We appreciate it is not always easy and not every case is black or white but that is why we asked to let us race to give us room and so on.

“I think that is what we want and ultimately what everyone wants.”

There are fears that Ferrari’s review could set a precedent for teams challenging similar decisions in future, with Haas team principal Guenther Steiner warning the incident could lead to a “never-ending saga”.