Sebastian Vettel has lost the Canadian Grand Prix after imposed time penalty (Photo: @sebvettelnews Twitter)

Vettel robbed of Canada F1 Grand Prix storms podium

Charlie Bullis
SPORT

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton has won the Canadian Grand Prix following a controversial penalty being handed to race-leader Sebastian Vettel.

On lap 48 the Ferrari driver ran wide and as he re-entered the track, caused Hamilton to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision with the wall.

Vettel’s car crossed the finish line in first place but Hamilton claimed victory after a five-second penalty was enforced on Vettel for rejoining the track unsafely.

During the race, an irritated Vettel could be heard on the team’s radio saying: “They have stolen the race from us,” after being denied his first race win since August 2018 and Ferrari’s first win of the season.

But what happened after the race left fans shocked.

An angry Vettel changed the ‘number 1’ sign in front of Hamilton’s Mercedes and swapped it to a ‘number 2’ sign that was placed in front of his own car.

Second placed Sebastian Vettel swaps the number boards at parc ferme during the F1 Canadian Grand Prix (Photo: Getty Images)

The Ferrari man waved to fans as he walked to the podium waiting area where a tense chat with Hamilton occured before the Brit raised the trophy.

“Where was I supposed to go?” Vettel said to an awkward Hamilton.

Championship leader Hamilton was booed by fans but that didn’t dampen his celebrations as Hamilton welcomed Vettel up on the top of the podium with him.

“That is absolutely not the way I wanted to win,” said Hamilton who extends Mercedes 100% win record for 2019. “I forced the error and he went wide, we nearly collided, but that’s motor racing.”

Race winner Lewis Hamilton pulls second placed Sebastian Vettel onto the top step of the podium during the Canadian Grand Prix (Photo: Getty Images)

After skipping post race interviews before the podium, Vettel spoke to the crowd, “Fans shouldn’t boo Lewis, they should boo the people that make these silly decisions.”

“We deserved the win today,” Vettel said thanking his fans for their support, “that is my opinion and I think the people’s opinions out there.”

F1 fans and legends of the sport worldwide took to social media, flooding the stewards with criticism.

Vettel had begun the race well with a clean start from pole position while Hamilton held off Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc.  Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas secured a bonus point for the fastest lap to finish fourth behind Leclerc. Hamilton now leads the championship 29 points ahead of Bottas and 62 points ahead of Vettel heading into the French GP in two weeks time.

Ferrari have lodged their intention to appeal the decision. They now have 96 hours to gather evidence and decide whether to pursue the appeal.


FOLLOW ON TWITTER @charliejbullis