Formula one driver Sebastian Vettel on Sunday made news after his rant during the Mexican Grand Prix, which was laden with expletives.
Vettel swore against race director Charlie Whiting and competitor Max Verstappen in a conversation on the team radio, as he crossed the line in response to Verstappen failing to cede his third place to the Ferrari driver when he cut the T1 chicane whilst attempting to defend. Vettel’s swearing was broadcast to a worldwide audience on Sunday, with the swear words beeped out. Vettel later apologised to Charlie Whiting, hence avoiding any action from being taken against him.
But Verstappen’s cutting of the first corner was investigated by the stewards on the grounds he might have gained an advantage by leaving the track and in dramatic scenes Verstappen was given a five-second penalty immediately after the race and was demoted to fifth. Verstappen was forced to leave the pre-podium room as Vettel ran to take up his place on the podium.
However, in a further twist, Vettel then lost third place after becoming the first driver to be punished under a new dangerous driving rule for his defence against Ricciardo’s attempted pass.
Vettel was penalised 10 seconds for moving while in the braking zone and given two penalty points on his licence – ending up fifth and Ricciardo eventually being classified as third.
The Radio Conversation between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, his team:
“Move, move. For f*** sake. He [Verstappen]’s a f***k… that’s what he is.”
“I mean am I the only one or are you not seeing what I am seeing? He is just backing me up into Ricciardo? For f**ks sake.”
Ferrari: Charlie said [inaudible]…
“Here is a message for Charlie: F*** off! F*** off! Honestly”
“I mean honestly, I am going to hit someone. I think I have a puncture, rear left [after Turn 4 incident with Daniel Ricciardo].”
Ferrari: Tyres are fine, tyres are fine
“He has to give me the position. End of the story.”
Ferrari: Charlie say no.
“Well here’s a message for Charlie. F*** off! Honestly, f**k off.”
Maurizio Arrivabene: Sebastian, Sebastian calm down. They are under investigation. We know it is not fair, but calm down. Put your head down and we talk afterwards.
Okay, copy. Received.
Vettel in the Ferrari Trying to overtake Verstappen in the Toro Rosso
Other teams in the sport put blamed Ferrari for the built up frustration within Sebastian Vettel. Red bull team principal , Christian Horner was quoted as saying, “in any sport, what you cannot do is, give abuse to the referee”. In a sport like Formula One, though things have calmed down in only the last decade or so. Instances like these are not totally new, as in the olden days when things were not so commercialized in the sport, usage of swear words in the pits and in the car was very normal and in some instances pure entertainment.
Sebastian Vettel was quick to point that out in an interview after the Mexican Grand Prix with Juan Pablo Montoya. “I was using a lot of sign language and using a lot of your language I think, Probably looking back I felt like you when you got angry in the car.” Vettel told Montoya, who himself had a pretty respectable Formula 1 career in the past.
The Mexican Grand Prix ended with Lewis Hamilton Taking first place, Nico Rosberg second and Daniel Ricciardo third. After the 10 second Penalty, Sebastian Vettel was placed in the fifth position.
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