Sebastian Vettel faces investigation for moped joy-ride at Albert Park following his early Australian GP FP1 exit

Sebastian Vettel faces investigation for moped joy-ride at Albert Park following his early Australian GP FP1 exit

Sebastian Vettel in a moped at Albert Park, Melbourne.

Four times world champion Sebastian Vettel was all set for his first Grand Prix in the 2022 season after the Aston Martin driver missed out on the last two rounds due to a positive COVID-19 result, in the Australian GP. He made his first Grand Prix weekend appearance on Friday afternoon at Albert Park, Melbourne.

But his return to the track was short-lived as his outing came to a premature end after he reported a loss of power with his AMR22 making him park it at the side turn 10 with just 15 minutes left for the session to finish. Sebastian Vettel then quickly went to get the fire extinguisher from the nearby marshal post under Red Flag as smoke was seen coming out of the rear of the car.

At the end of the session with all cars finished their laps and returned to the pit lane, the former Red Bull man was spotted driving around the track on a moped to return to the paddock. Sebastian Vettel was seen waving to fans as he rode around with his F1 helmet placed on top of his head. He also took his hands off the handlebars of the moped when riding it.

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But soon after Sebastian Vettel’s returned to the pit race control announced that he was under investigation for entering the track without permission from the field marshal.

What are the F1 rules that got Sebastian Vettel in trouble

Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel

According to Article 26.7 of the F1 sporting regulations which are concerned with ‘general safety’ Vettel has violated the rule which bars individuals except for those who have prior permission from entering the track.

“The law states that in the five minutes after every practice session, no one is allowed on-track, at pit entry or pit exit except:

  • Marshals or other authorized personnel in the execution of their duty.
  • Drivers when driving or on foot, having first received permission to do so from a marshal.
  • Team personnel when either pushing a car or clearing equipment from the grid after all cars able to do so have left the grid on the formation lap.
  • Team personnel when assisting marshals to remove a car from the grid after the start of the sprint session or the race,”

The stewards will be taking a decision on the incident and if Sebastian Vettel is found to be breaking the rules, he will receive the punishments in accordance with the rules ahead of second practice later this evening in Melbourne.

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