Vettel summoned by stewards over behaviour in F1 drivers’ meeting

The Aston Martin driver will see the stewards at 6pm local time at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday for an incident that happened during the drivers’ briefing which took place after qualifying on Friday evening at the track.

It remains unclear what the details are behind the stewards hearing, with the FIA bulletin stating: “Alleged breach of Article 12.2.1 f) of the International Sporting Code and Article 20.1of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – Behaviour at the Drivers’ Meeting at 19:30.”

Article 12.2.1 refers to a “breach of the Code, of the regulations of the FIA if appropriate, of the national rules, or of any Supplementary Regulations” and could lead to a penalty for Vettel.

In further post-sprint summons news, four drivers have been called over a possible breach of the regulations surrounding messages given on the extra formation lap.

Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo, George Russell and Esteban Ocon are all set to meet with the stewards this evening over an “alleged breach of Article 33.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – Messages to drivers during the second formation lap at 16:33.”

Mercedes driver and GPDA director George Russell spoke of the need for greater consistency from the stewards when asked about Vettel’s summons after qualifying, saying there had “been a lot of borderline decisions or manoeuvres this season”.

“We don’t want to be dishing out penalties left, right and centre but there needs to be an element of consistency somewhere,” Russell said.

“We need to look at the root cause of the issues. And with these track limit offences the issue is the circuit, you know, when we’re never going to solve this issue, until you solve the circuit. And Turn 4 in Austria, you will never have that issue. But you compare that with Turn 1 here or Silverstone last week, you will always push.”

Asked by Motorsport.com if the drivers felt listened to, Russell replied: “We do feel listened to but they can’t just change the rules week in, week out when one driver pipes up and says I think this, I think that.

“They do need to stick to their guns. But it just needs to be enforced consistently, it needs to be clear to all of us. The penalties need to be a bit more consistent. And that will only come if there’s consistency from the people policing the regulation.”