Sebastian Vettel celebrated his fourth consecutive F1 World Championship with a couple of smokey donuts on the track before celebrating with fans, and earned a hefty fine in the process.
He got his fourth win on Sunday at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi, beating out the rest of the pack by a whole 30 seconds. This also made him the youngest F1 quadruple winner in the history of the sport.
Clearly, there was plenty for the man to celebrate and after his slow-down lap at Buddh International Circuit he continued onto the pit straight rather than entering pitlane and the required parc ferme area. He then did some gloriously smokey donuts before hopping out of the car.
You’d think this act of exuberance would garner nothing more than an understanding smile from officials, but you’d be very wrong. Instead, Vettel got himself into a bit of trouble for breaking the rules of the race.
Article 43.3 of the F1’s Sporting Regulations specifically states that after the taking of the checkered flag, drivers must head for the post race parc ferme without any “unnecessary delay”. Apparently, they see doing donuts as a bit unnecessary.
Team boss Christian Horner and Vettel were called in to explain Vettel’s actions, as if the obvious, “I just won my 4th F1 for crying out loud!” was not implied. A couple of hours later, Vettel paid the price for his exuberance.
Technically, it was his sponsor, Red Bull, who paid the price as they were the ones hit with the $36,000 fine for Vettel’s actions. Vettel did receive an official reprimand for his actions.
That may not sound like a big deal, but it could be if he’s reprimanded repeatedly. Earning three reprimands will garner a driver a ten-place grid penalty in their next race. Vettel has only one reprimand for this season so he’s good as long as he stops acting like a kid with the keys to dad’s car on a Saturday night.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
