Sebastian Vettel qualifies 16th, then gets hit with five-place grid penalty
Sebastian Vettel has suffered another blow after the FIA stewards handed him a five-place grid penalty for passing Roberto Merhi's Marussia after a red flag came out in FP3 this morning.
Vettel said that the Marussia was going slowly, but the FIA has always regarded offenses such as these as very serious. That was emphasized by the fact that Vettel has also received three penalty points on his licence.
The German had qualified a disappointing 16th after suffering ERS trouble in Q1. Also penalized was Max Verstappen, who moves back 15 places due to his Monaco penalty and another for an engine change. Jenson Button is at the back after failing to take part in qualifying.
"Right from the start, we didn't have the full power available," Vettel said. "So when I went out for the first run, we tried to fix the problem, but we couldn't. Due to the lack of power, we couldn't make it further. For sure we have to investigate but I don't think that there's anything to do with the engine. I think it has more with the electronical side, but I am confident that we can fix the problem in time for tomorrow's race."
