Sebastian Vettel "very bitter" following Hungarian GP disqualification

Aston Martin

Vettel "very bitter" following Hungarian GP disqualification

Vettel was stripped of second in Hungary for failing to provide a fuel sample

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 26 August 2021 15:29

Sebastian Vettel has called for "more tolerance" in F1's rules following his "very bitter" disqualification from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver finished second on the track but was disqualified for a fuel irregularity as the AMR21 was unable to provide a one-litre sample to the FIA post-race.

The result cost the four-time F1 champion 18 points and left the team 29 adrift of fifth-placed Alpine in the constructors' standings after the French marque picked up a first and fourth.

Article continues under video

Asked ahead of the Belgian GP if he believed the exclusion was too strict, Vettel responded: "I guess rules are rules. We didn't know we had a problem, to be honest. When we checked, the fuel wasn't in the car and we were disqualified.

"We thought it was in the car so I don't know if, in the future, there is a better way to handle this. I don't think there was much that could have been done.

"It is very bitter because first, I did not think we had an advantage; second, there was no intention, or no way, we could explain that too little fuel was in the car.

"So something happened over the course of the race, a leakage or something, that meant the fuel wasn't there anymore."

Responding on whether such a regulation is too harsh, Vettel added: "Probably more for the future. Looking back it is clear rules are as they are and we got disqualified.

"But looking forwards, obviously it is very bitter. In the circumstances, I understand better because I was the one who suffered from it. You don't wish that to anyone else to happen."

Suggesting there should be "a bit more tolerance", he concluded: "I don't know exactly what you need to write down on paper, that is for other people to come up with."