Furious Sebastian Vettel axed from podium after receiving 10-second penalty for dangerous driving

Wait a minute: Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the podium but his joy is short lived
Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel was dropped from the podium after being handed a 10-second post-race penalty for dangerous driving at a controversial Mexican Grand Prix.

Last night’s race was dominated by Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton leading Nico Rosberg in another team one-two to leave him 19 points shy of his colleague with two races remaining.

But much of the post-grand prix talk centred on Vettel following his foul-mouthed tirade at race director Charlie Whiting with the German angered by Max Verstappen’s driving.

Verstappen crossed the line in third but was given a five-second penalty for going off the track in a late tussle with Vettel, promoting the Ferrari driver to the podium.

However, three hours later Vettel was handed a time penalty of his own for moving under braking as Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo tried to overtake him.

The added time meant Vettel dropped from third to fifth with both Red Bull drivers leapfrogging him, and Ricciardo taking third.

A new rule was introduced at the preceding race in the United States partly because drivers complained about Verstappen moving under braking while being closely chased by rivals.

Vettel was called to explain himself to race stewards after a fight with Ricciardo at turn four which resulted in the pair banging wheels but with the German ending up just in front.

The move by the four-time world champion was deemed “an abnormal change of direction” by the race stewards and “potentially dangerous”.

That decision did not help the mood of Vettel, who was livid in the latter stages because of what he deemed wrongdoing by the Red Bull duo.

Speaking over the race radio, Vettel said: “You know what, here is the message for Charlie [Whiting]. F**k off, honestly f**k off.”

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene went over the airwaves to tell his driver to “calm down; put your head down and we talk afterwards”.

Verstappen’s driving, meanwhile, was deemed “unacceptable” by Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda after the Dutchman collided with Rosberg at the start of the grand prix.

Race officials did not take action but Lauda said: “Nico was clearly in front, and Verstappen rams him off the track. That could have cost Nico the championship. Verstappen drives too aggressively. At some point, he has to realise it.”

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