If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably in the middle of a barrage of Twitter-related hot takes regarding this season’s biggest flashpoint. Me being the Sebastian Vettel fan I am, you’re expecting me to go into some swearing fuelled tirade about how much this sport sucks right now.
This will not be that. Thanks for your click.
Oh, you’re still here?
By the letter of the law, Sebastian Vettel did re-enter the track dangerously, even if there was no better way he could have handled the situation in real-time. By the letter of the law, that’s a penalty. I think any reasonable person would see that once the dust settles.
You’ve probably already seen a half a dozen examples of something similar that wasn’t penalised. Some with the nuance took away, others that weren’t really the same thing but used to make your point one way or the other. And that’s just it, we have a sport that with rotating stewards, breeds inconsistency in the officiating.
When that happens, you’re going to get days like this one, where morally, the “wrong” decision is made in the eyes of the people. They need to be the bearer of your frustration more than anything you saw today because this WILL keep coming up. It’s like cricket. When you blur the spirit of the rules, with the book itself, you will have days like today. Of course, I was disappointed, but I’m also at peace knowing that the sport is conducive to moments like this.
Lewis and Sebastian handled that better than I ever could. Lewis deserves no vitriol just because he benefitted from a shitty call. That’s a sport for you. It’s not his fault he was next in line. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the Sebastian sass with the podium switches, but also the class in which he handled what much have been a gut-wrenching result. I suspect he may have gained a lot of fans, because hell, we love the drama. As cliche as it is, live sport is the ultimate reality TV, and this was the equivalent of a Love Island catch-up binge.
That’s the cruelty and beauty of it all. If you’ve been on Twitter, you’ve probably seen tweets saying “I’m done”, and “This is awful for the sport”. On one end, the ultimate “fuck you” to fans, a race decided in the steward’s office. On the other, the best 10 minutes of TV post-race that F1’s seen in years. Secretly, deep down, I think a lot of people will look back and enjoy this all. And tune in for Paul Ricard in a fortnight’s time.
This is our sport. Don’t ever lose sight of that. The church is now in session.
Dre x
