FIA say why Vettel wasn’t penalised for jump start
Formula 1 PA
The FIA have explained that Sebastian Vettel wasn’t penalised for his jump start in Japan as he didn’t move enough to trigger the system.
The Ferrari man moved before the lights went out at the start of the race but quickly stopped himself again, causing the stewards to launch an investigation.
Many drivers were angered and confused by the decision not to award Vettel a penalty for his jump start, especially considering Kimi Raikkonen was given a drive-through penalty for a similar incident in Russia.
However, the stewards released a document after the race explaining why the Ferrari driver wasn’t sanctioned.
“The stewards reviewed video evidence and the jump-start report based on the information from the FIA approved and supplied transponder fitted to each car,” the stewards said.
“While the video shows some movement [from Vettel’s car] that movement was within the acceptable tolerance of the F1 jump start system.”
Despite escaping a penalty, Vettel nonetheless was unable to recover from his compromised start, failing to get back past Valtteri Bottas and finishing P2.
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