Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

Vettel: “Not right” for spectators to boo Hamilton

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel criticises spectators at the Canadian Grand Prix who booed Lewis Hamilton, who won the race after the Ferrari driver was penalised.

What they say

There’s nothing wrong with what’s been going on between Lewis and myself. I think it’s not him deciding.

We have very great respect for each other. I heard some fans booing when Lewis got his trophy which I think is not right. I think the both of us today drove a really strong race and were fighting very hard. In this way I will defend Lewis 100%, it’s nothing to do with him.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

@David-br raises an intriguing ‘what if’: What would Max Verstappen have achieved this year in a Ferrari?

Verstappen would clearly be signed by any team who could afford to the fee. He’s a multiple champion waiting to happen. But as Alonso knows all too well, the path has to be very carefully chosen.

I’ve little doubt Verstappen in a Ferrari this year would be making a respectable job of keeping close to the Mercedes. But are Ferrari ever going to properly sort themselves out?

Mercedes look the best option for someone of Verstappen’s ambition/talent. It depends if he has the patience to sit out another one or two years to see of Red Bull can return to championship level with Honda. Especially with the big changes coming up, it may be worth it.
@David-br

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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27 comments on “Vettel: “Not right” for spectators to boo Hamilton”

  1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    12th June 2019, 0:20

    Kieth, I dont have Twitter so I’ll respond to your twitter account here. I obviously have respect for anyone that gets behind the wheel of anything and competes no matter what that might or when they did it. I don’t believe his decision is going to affect the outcome of Lewis winning this championship either. But with saying that I will add this, his call was so borderline on a racing incident and a slap on the wrist reprimand that I have no respect for him being a steward. I understand that he had a job to do and it wasn’t to make sure the race was a good one but that call is the worst, the worst I have seen by a steward since I started watching F1.

    1. @canadianjosh

      Penalties are decided in a confidential vote of several stewards, only one of which is the drivers steward. We don’t even know how Pirro voted, or wether he was overruled by the other stewards. Yet, it is allways the drivers steward whose name is dragged out into the public.

      1. @crammond, I guess that, as the most public figure on the stewarding panel, the driver steward is often the one who is targeted by the fans – sometimes quite aggressively – whenever the stewards make a decision that they dislike given that he is the only one they recognise.

        It’s as if it is assumed that the driver steward can make the other three members of the panel bend to their will and therefore it’s assumed the penalty comes solely from them, even though in reality that is unlikely to be the case. It’s perhaps no wonder that some former drivers have indicated that they don’t want to take the job, given they know they will be on the receiving end of a lot of abuse if they penalise a popular driver.

      2. My understanding is that the vote was unanimous which usually means they all voted the same way.

    2. @canadianjosh, sorry mate but I disagree with you. Would you care to give us reasons as to why you claim to be better qualified and informed than the official stewards are?

    3. Whilst I disagree with the penalty, I do so while admitting that I have no experience as a driver in professional racing and I have less data and information at hand than the stewards do. It is only my opinion based on my knowledge and observations.

      It is extremely distasteful for any of the stewards being attacked personally over a decision that they are more qualified to make. On can still show respect while disagreeing. Unless, of course rooting for your driver or team supersedes simple human decency.

    4. If you think that was the worst call in F1 stewarding history, you’ve only been watching F1 since the start of the 2019 Canadian GP.

    5. Initially I sided with your view, @canadianjosh. I was upset to see such an anti-climax end of race.
      But the rule is clear actually. And looking at 2018 Japan between Verstappen and Raikkonen the penalty is pretty consistent. Vettel forced another driver off-track with rejoining in an unsafe manner, thats pretty it. He failed unfortunately.

      Also one can disagree with a steward’s decision but having no respect for him is a disgrace. First of all it was a collective decision but also it was done faithfully and consistently with previous decisions. All this is going a bit far imo.

    6. The problem isn’t the penalty given by the stewards (although I do disagree with it). The problem is that the incident was referred to the stewards in the first place. It is the Race Director that decides which incidents are referred to the stewards. Once there, the stewards are going to apply the letter of the regulations and actively look for a regulation, any regulation, that has been broken irrespective of the circumstances that led to the ‘infringement’.

      I don’t know if Pirro voted for or against the penalty. The driver steward is there to give a drivers perspective on any incident, for all we know he could have been the lone voice on the panel suggesting there be no penalty.

      The Race Director should have seen it for what it was, just racing as we’ve known it, loved it and yearned for more of for years. It shouldn’t have been referred in the first place and I find myself wondering what Charlie Whiting would have done. I don’t know the answer to the question, however the thought has crossed my mind that it could be because F1 has a new race director who isn’t yet confident enough to exercise his judgement. Or maybe he is and did.

    7. GtisBetter (@)
      12th June 2019, 15:50

      You can have respect for a person and also disagree. The two are different things.

  2. Seb’s correct, Lewis should not be booed. After all, Seb needed Lewis’s driving skills and braking ability to avoid the high speed collision Seb nearly caused.

    1. Penalty of not, HAM was 5 secs behind VET after pits and erase this gap as much those cars allow.
      LEC also took out a 5 secs gap from VET.
      Anyway, after the penalty everything changed, but I saw clearly two drivers going faster than VET.

    2. Goggles Paesano
      12th June 2019, 3:14

      The vast majority of the fans were not booing Lewis. He is extremely popular in Montreal and will continue to be. The boos were directed at the result of the race, nothing more.

    3. I really don’t understand some fans, booing Hamilton was pathetic but then you can’t expect much more from the tifosi… you would think Hamilton was the one that imposed the penalty.

  3. On VER possibilities: The keystone is VET and its retirement.
    Unless there is a chance of a red car, HAM will remain in MERC or retire.
    By the rumors, VET retirement is closer than HAM’s.
    After that, a seat will be available to VER, even on MERC.
    LEC seems to be in a golden cage. Unless a RAI-MAS dynamic is possible – with no clear #1 – LEC will be in the best seat available but subject to the whims of the team nd of the #1 driver.

  4. off topic: Canada was another – less flagrant – instance of FER damaging LEC race to give an advantage to VET and not maximazing points.
    Betting on a safety car was not totally crazy as a reason for extending LEC stint, but a normal stint would allow LEC to be closer to HAM – specially as he got held by VET.
    Eventually FER would get a 1-2, but the fear of LEC overtaking again damaged the overall result for the team.

  5. When Vettel retires, Hamilton will take his seat for sure. Verstappen will take the Merc seat. Pretty simple really.

    1. I think while the lure of red is there for Hamilton, his brand is entrenched so much with Mercedes now he’ll see out his career then retire a silver arrow.

      Verstappen and his approach to racing is maybe what Ferrari need. It fits the Red Bull brand for now.

      I feel a bit for Leclerc, having arrived at a top team it looks like he’ll have to wait to be a true #1 driver, if ever. Talented, fast, yet wrong team at the wrong time.

      It would be curious to see Vettel in the seat currently occupied by Bottas, however I’m not sure he would want to take the fight to Hamilton in that way. I can see Vettel retiring while at Ferrari and staying on as an ambassador for the brand as their most recent (non-team) WDC-winning driver, like Button did with Mclaren for a while.

      I’d wonder most where Ricciardo will end up. All the PR around his arrival at Renault was the usual positivity, however it feels more like a holding pen for him as the only option that wasn’t Red Bull. He’s the only other current driver I can imagine in silver or red.

      The left-field 100/1 outsider bet is a return to F1 by Alonso, not in orange…

    2. @dutchtreat

      Whilst Hamilton has spoken about the lure of Ferrari in the past, as long as Mercedes are giving him a car that wins championships, as long as there’s an atmosphere in the team as it is now and as long as Ferrari are messing things up so much, he’s not going anywhere.

      I feel he’d do just as good in this years Ferrari as he is doing in the Merc, but when you -or anyone- watches the way that Ferrari fumble in the dark of the car issues and team orders, it doesn’t exactly fill one with confidence.

    3. Where is the logic in leaving a championship well organized team, that just does not make sense considering the chaos that seems to reign at Ferrari at the moment and Hamilton has said before that although there is some lure to drive for Ferrari it is not high on his list of priorities. I think it is more likely that Max will wind up at Ferrari when Seb finally calls it a day, unless of course RBR give him a car capable of winning the championship.

  6. CotD is pretty much spot on there for me.
    I believe if Max was in Valtteri’s seat then Lewis would have a very serious fight on his hands and I think my money may well be on Max.

    After this weekends events I am sort of hoping that Seb will say that F1 is no longer for him and retire.
    I think Lewis would dearly love to be a Ferrari driver which would open up a spot for Max at Merc.

    Pipe dreams I suppose, but unless Red Bull and Honda make significant advances (and I do believe they could) then I fear that Max may lose his chance to be world champ.

    1. @nullapax I think Max and Lewis at the same team would be a titanic battle for sure, but it would pretty much dominate everything if they were in the fastest car too. I’m with you in wanting to see Hamilton at Ferrari. I think his professionalism demands (from his accumulated experience) could help get Ferrari over the line too. Max needs to choose carefully or be lucky though. (Thanks for the COTD @keithcollantine)

    2. @nullapax:

      I fear that Max may lose his chance to be world champ.

      Remember, Max is younger now than Lewis was when he started in F1. He’s got a few years yet.

    3. I agree with you in principle, Max is fast and maturing but Hamilton holds a slight edge when it comes to race craft but Max is improving that race by race.

  7. those forbes rich lists are pure fiction. I’m always quite interested to see who’s earning the silly money but that list is such nonsense it felt like a waste of time. a simple glance at the tennis world would tell you that novak djokovic is the highest earner in recent years (prize money) and in fact became the highest earner of all time recently (overtaking federer). yet in this list they suggest federer earner $40m more than novak. that’s ignoring sponsorship deals, which may well favour federer, but this is total speculation.

    it’s a great piece of clickbait (I clicked obviously) but should be taken with a hefty pinch of “this is total BS”.

  8. Regarding the Forbes-article: Where have/do they get all those figures given they’re (or at least are supposed to be) confidential?

  9. I’m not sure how Brundle can claim that Vettel shut the door on Hamilton as hard as Hamilton did Ricciardo:

    What Vettel did to Hamilton was not as abrupt as what Hamilton did to Daniel Ricciardo at the harbour chicane in Monaco in 2016 …

    Here’s a screenshot where Hamilton *might* have drifted 2 or three inches back to the left, but not much.

    https://imgur.com/a/5Cl3S33

    That’s nowhere near the same situation, when you consider the track limit in one is in the middle of the screen, and is the barrier on the right in the other.

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