Vettel was called to testify before the FIA on Saturday night for his behavior at the drivers’ briefing 24 hours earlier, when it was discovered that he had left the meeting early.
The German received a suspended fine of 25,000 euros for that incident, which, according to the FIA , made him fall short of being a role model for other drivers in motorsport.
The Aston Martin driver and four-time F1 world champion met race director Niels Wittich on Saturday to discuss the incident and apologize, but refused to discuss the matter with the media on Sunday, saying only: “Ask to the FIA”.
It has now come to light that Sebastian Vettel’s frustration lay in the fact that the meeting focused on seemingly less important issues, such as track limits and pitting requirements, rather than putting other things on the table. priorities.
Asked about Vettel’s meeting and departure, Vettel’s friend Mick Schumacher said: “It seemed to me that we were going around some of the things that were discussed, on a loop.”
“It was taking longer than necessary. I fully understand Seb’s decision, and I think there were many more drivers who also felt the need to leave the meeting,” defended Haas.
Daniel Ricciardo, for his part, pointed out the time pressure during race weekends, which can make any delay or loss of time in the drivers’ meeting annoying.
“I don’t want to speak for Seb, but sometimes we have to do an engineering thing with schedules,” said the McLaren F1 driver.
“So I think sometimes if you’re going back and forth on the same topic, and there’s always conversations about the same thing, if it goes on for a long time and no definitive answer, then clearly some are thinking ‘I have to go.'”
“Obviously Seb was a bit frustrated with the roundup going on. He obviously had enough of it.”
Article 7.3 of the 2022 F1 Sporting Regulations is the one that includes the meetings on Fridays:
“The meetings, chaired by the race director, will take place three hours before the start of FP1 (free practice 1) and an hour and a half after the end of FP2. The first must be attended by all the team leaders and the second all pilots.
“In the event that the race director deems another meeting necessary, this will take place three hours before the start of the race. Competitors will be informed no later than three hours after the end of qualifying. All drivers and team managers must attend”.
