Haas F1 duo escape penalties for ‘compromising’ Vettel in Dutch GP qualifying

At the end of Q1, Vettel came across Mazepin and Schumacher who were justling for track position at the final two corners.

The traffic meant Vettel couldn’t improve his lap time and was eliminated in Q1.

The incident was referred to the stewards, but they have decided to take no further action.

The stewards’ report noted: “There is no doubt that the lap of Car 5 [Vettel] was compromised however we note in particular the comment of the driver of Car 5 [Vettel] that “there were too many cars in the one place”.  

“There were at least six cars in line, preparing for a fast lap, and all of these were travelling at slow speed (some at less than 50 km/h) whereas Car 5 was approaching at up to 240 km/h

“Although Car 5 was impeded, in the circumstances this was not “unnecessary impeding” (cf Article 31.5). The drivers and team representatives present agreed.”

Judging from the stewards’ verdict, it seems that Vettel himself wasn’t pushing for either Haas driver to be penalised.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Mazepin described the four-time champion “as a true gentleman”.

“Yes we’ve been in the stewards’ room and Sebastian was a true gentleman in addressing the global issue of everybody slowing down in Formula 1 at the last corner,” he said. “I apologised to him and said ‘thank you for being honest’, I was truly grateful for his behaviour in that instant.”