Vettel: Modern F1 racing rules make drivers sound like lawyers
Sebastian Vettel feels Formula 1 is no longer the sport he grew up enjoying and drivers now sound "like lawyers", following the penalty that cost him Canadian Grand Prix victory
Vettel was deeply disappointed at losing Montreal victory when he was handed a five-second penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe way and impeding eventual victor Lewis Hamilton having gone off-track briefly at a chicane.
Having calmed down from a post-race radio rant, Vettel said the debate over the incident showed how F1 had changed for the worse.
"I really love the old races, the old cars and old drivers," said Vettel.
"I really love that, but I just wish I, as good as I am doing what I do, was in their time rather than today.
"You just hear the wording when people come on the radio, we sort of have an official language. We should be able to say what we think.
"I disagree with where the sport is now. You have all this wording, 'I gained an advantage, I didn't gain an advantage'.
"All this I think is wrong. It is not really what we should be doing in the car."
Vettel reckoned that fans would view the moment he had with Hamilton as just a racing incident rather than anything that warranted a penalty.
"For me that is racing and a lot of the people that I just mentioned earlier, the old F1 drivers and people in the grandstands agree, this is part of racing," he said.
"But nowadays..I don't like it, we all sound a bit like lawyers using the official language.
"I think it is wrong. It is not the sport I fell in love with when I was watching."
Vettel insisted that he had not deliberately cut across in front of Hamilton as he rejoined the track.
"I was coming back on track and trying to make sure I had the car under control," he said.
"Once I regained control and made sure it was alright, I saw in the mirrors that Lewis was right behind me.
"I don't think I could have done anything different. I don't know what the problem was."
Asked if he could have done any more to avoid cutting in front of Hamilton, he said: "No. How? I've got two hands and I have them on the steering wheel trying to keep the car under control."
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