Further details have been revealed regarding Sebastian Vettel's exit from Friday's driver briefing at the Austrian Grand Prix, an incident that resulted in him being issued with a suspended fine. Vettel was called to see the stewards over his behaviour in the meeting. He later received the suspended fine of €25,000 for leaving the drivers' briefing early and for "expressing frustration at the meeting", as the stewards' decision document explained. "Drivers are not free to leave when they want, this being a breach of the requirement to attend," the document continued. "Drivers at this level are role models for every driver around the world and in the opinion of the stewards Vettel failed to live up to that standard in this case." The Aston Martin driver – who will take the fine if he breaches Article 20.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and/or Article 12.2.1 f) of the International Sporting Code again later in the season – went on to apologise to the Race Director.
Schumacher could "fully understand" Vettel
Mick Schumacher has since given his take on what happened in the meeting, and the Haas driver felt that Vettel's frustration was understandable. "I just felt like we were going in circles with some of the things that were discussed, and it kind of was getting longer than necessary," Schumacher told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I fully understand the reaction from Seb, and I think that were a lot more drivers that kind of felt the need to maybe leave the briefing as well."
Ricciardo: Vettel was frustrated with the back and forth
Daniel Ricciardo has also spoken about the incident. "I don't want to speak for Seb, but sometimes we've also got engineering and stuff to do," the Australian explained. "I think sometimes if you're going back and forth, and there are always conversations, if it goes on long and without a definitive answer, then some are like, 'Right, I've got to go'. "Obviously, Seb was a little frustrated with the back and forth, and he felt quite strongly about it."
Most read
