A penalty for Vettel after qualifying?
The driver cut a corner on his in-lap to the pits and was placed under investigation by the stewards.
Sebastian Vettel was placed under investigation by the stewards after the 2011 Korean Grand Prix qualifying for cutting a corner.
In fact, during his return trip to the pits at the end of his first stint in Q3, the German driver, in order to reach his garage in time for a final stint, took the path leading from the 4th to the 6th corner, thus cutting across corner No. 5. Consequently, Vettel allegedly violated Article 20.13 of the F1 sporting regulations, which states that, to avoid doubt, the white lines defining the edges of the track are considered part of the track, unlike the curbs.
The Red Bull driver did not benefit from this shortcut to improve his time but could still be penalized by the stewards, even though he qualified in second position. A penalty that Jenson Button, who qualified in 3rd position and would find himself on the front row in case of a penalty, but on the dirty side of the track, does not want: « I hope they don’t give him a penalty, a reprimand maybe… »
The McLaren driver acknowledges, however, that his rival from Red Bull did indeed break article 20.13: « You are expected to stay within the white lines. Unless you make a mistake, you do not drive off the track until the checkered flag is waved. »
Update: After a meeting of the stewards, no penalty has been imposed on the German driver: After hearing from the driver and the team manager and noting that car number 1 started what was its fastest lap with 17 seconds remaining on the clock, the stewards determined that no advantage was gained when car no. 1 went off the track. Thus, there was no breach of Article 20.13 and the stewards decided that no action would be taken, explains the FIA in a statement.
