The FIA could rule within hours on Scuderia Ferrari’s request for a “review” of the time penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in Canada. The review is believed to now be in the hands of the French GP stewards at Paul Ricard, who will connect with the Montreal stewards by video conference. Sources suggest the ‘new evidence’ presented by Scuderia Ferrari as the basis for the review request is footage from Sebastian Vettel’s backwards-facing cockpit camera.
Another piece of new evidence could be comparisons of his normal racing line trajectory through the corner in the laps prior to the mistake. In reality it seems that, according to the new evidence, Sebastian Vettel would have returned to the ideal path, indeed remaining more to the left as compared to the previous laps, which would suggest he did so without hindering Lewis Hamilton as Max Verstappen had done with Kimi Räikkönen last season at Suzuka, according to Motorsport Italy.
But apart from Sebastian Vettel penalty in Canada, Scuderia Ferrari has a bigger problem, which is the performance of the 2019 car. Team Principal Mattia Binotto thinks the form boost in Montreal was circuit specific, even though Mercedes’ Toto Wolff is expecting “another tough fight” this weekend in Paul Ricard. Binotto says there will be some new parts for the red car in France, but at the same time he warned: “What we will be bringing won’t be the solution to our problems. But the technical feedback we get from these evolutions will be important for the next steps we take.”
There are also reports of further restructuring behind the scenes at Ferrari, with Stephen Boyd, Maurizio Tomasselli, Hermann Wolche, Francois Dejoyeaux and Nigel Rupert-Nuttling all supposedly arriving to reinforce the team: “I especially needed technical support,” Binotto is quoted as saying – “It’s true that we have a couple of people at home and at the track to help manage the team, simply because the team is more important than the individual.” – the Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal concluded.
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