Quite. At any other circuit, and for any other driver, this would have been a crystal clear decision. If you gain an advantage (either by overtaking or, if you're in front, by preventing an overtake) by leaving the track, you're obliged to give up the place or face a penalty. The stewards are pretty consistent in applying a 5-second time penalty for this. If Vettel had given the place to Hamilton and then harassed him all the way to the end of the race, he might well have forced an error himself, especially with the brake temperature issues both drivers were having. He's petulant, and his petulance caused him to concede a win he might otherwise have held onto or won back.
His team ought to have told him so, as well. Ferrari have been tactically outplayed many times this year (and last, tbh.) For sure, racing drivers necessarily tend to have big egos, but if he'd been instructed to give up the place and try to fight back, it would have made both a better spectacle and a fairer race.
Last edited by Oakvillian; 10/06/19 04:12 PM.
