Charlie Whiting confirms that Sebastian Vettel’s overtake was legal – Formula 1 news
Charlie Whiting, who is the F1 race director, has confirmed that Sebastian Vettel’s move to overtake Jean Eric Vergne was legal and he will keep his F1 championship.
Whiting has stated that Vettel did not make any mistake as he correctly responded to a green flag.
“If the lights are not installed at a flag post the driver responds to the first signal that is shown,” Whiting told Auto Motor und Sport. “In Vettel's case, between the last yellow light and the green light there was a green flag being waved. The distance
is 350 metres here. Vettel responded to the flag and did everything right.”
Before this, FIA had also replied with their statement to the request made by Ferrari for clarification of the issue. The statement had included similar facts as quoted by Whiting and they had put an end to the issue by replying that there was no case to
answer.
FIA president, Bernie Ecclestone, has also stated that the whole issue is a joke. He added that it had been surprising for him that Ferrari did such a thing. He said that nothing positive will come out from this dispute for Ferrari.
Ferrari had requested a clarification of the issue when they observed a video showing Vettel doing the overtake under the yellow flags which is prohibited according to the rules and regulations of the FIA. However, race steward Gary Connolly had told that
they were not yellow flags but the red and yellow flags used to warn the drivers against tricky weather conditions which are common during the Brazilian GP.
There has been no official response from Red Bull Racing or Vettel about the issue except a statement from teammate Mark Webber saying that the appeal from Ferrari will not be able to succeed. However, Vettel had complained earlier about the dirty tricks
of his rivals.
Vettel had finished the season ending race with a sixth place and won his third consecutive title after battling through many problems during the race. He defeated his Ferrari rival, Fernando Alonso, by three points although he had finished on the podium
with a second place.
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