Renault: F1 should not just move on and forget the controversy surrounding Sebastian Vettel’s penalty. Renault chief on the events in Canada.

Formula 1 should not just move on and forget the controversy surrounding Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel’s Canadian Grand Prix penalty if there is consensus for rule changes, reckons Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul.

Sebastian Vettel’s five-second penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner and forcing Lewis Hamilton off the circuit in Montreal last weekend – a punishment that cost him and Scuderia Ferrari a first win of 2019 – prompted a huge outcry from fans and a number of former drivers.

It also reopened the debate about whether F1 needs to rethink how it deals with racing incidents and give drivers more freedom. Cyril Abiteboul thinks F1 has a habit of moving on from controversies without properly discussing their implications and potential for changes – and does not want that to happen this time.

“Each time there is an incident like that, then we talk and we talk and we move on to something else,” Cyril Abiteboul said, as reported by Autosport – “That’s one of the problems of Formula 1, that there is no proper – not consistency in the application of the decision – but consistency [in what is done]. If we think that there is a problem, let’s make sure that we fix the problem before we forget about the problem. And it’s a little bit the same on the rules. I don’t want to say anything about that [Vettel] incident, because frankly I didn’t watch it as I was too much on my own race, but if we think that there is a problem, it needs to go in-depth. We just talk about it in the heat of the moment on Sunday, maybe maximum on Monday, and then we move onto something else. If it’s a real problem, let’s get together and discuss it.” – he explained.

Scuderia Ferrari German driver Vettel said after Canada that he felt F1 was too tightly governed by regulations: “I don’t like it, we all sound a bit like lawyers using the official language,” he said. – “I think it is wrong. It is not the sport I fell in love with when I was watching.” – the four-time Formula One world champion concluded.