Sebastian Vettel Walks Away Penalty Free Despite Having a Jumpstart at the Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel had a remarkable qualifying session at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix where he took pole from his teammate Charles Leclerc, making it 5 pole positions in a row for Ferrari. However the main job is the race and that is where everything fell apart from him.

Things didn’t go his way right from the very start. He had a minor jumpstart but was quick enough to realise it. This meant he started his car, then stopped it and then started it again giving Valtteri Bottas a clear shot for the lead. His teammate Charles Leclerc had an even poor getaway tangling with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sending the Dutchman to a spin and leaving the former with a broken wing.

What was even surprising was that Sebastian Vettel was let go despite the jump start he had. Kimi Raikkonen had a similar thing earlier this year and was rightfully awarded a penalty.

Naturally fans expressed their discontent over Twitter and social media calling out FIA for first ignoring Vettel’s jumpstart and later Leclerc’s dash into Verstappen (which is to be discussed after the race). Questions will be asked from FIA today on why was Vettel not awarded a penalty and how was this incident any bit different than Kimi Raikkonen’s.

At the time of writing this piece, Vettel stands second being chased like a shark by Lewis Hamilton while Bottas looks comfortable up front. Leclerc is running sixth having given us some memorable overtakes at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. He is chasing for the fastest lap, which currently Lewis Hamilton holds.

It is another unfortunate race for Ferrari following Sochi where they took a 1-2 in Qualifying and made it a 3rd and DNF. Japan looks similar with a 1-2 probably looking like a podium (2nd or 3rd depending on what Hamilton decides to do) and a sixth. Mercedes also stand a chance to win the constructors championship, so lets wait how the last few laps unfold.