Quote Originally Posted by Duncan View Post
I think a one race suspension would be reasonable and proportionate. I don't think anything more than that would be justified (and something like dropping all points or a season ban would be a disaster for the sport; I really don't think that will happen).

I don't think that the rationale of Jerez '97 really applies here. In that case, we had a championship being decided in the last race of the season, and there needed to be a very strong message that the leader taking out themselves and their only realistic rival in that situation isn't to be tolerated... and I really don't imagine that anybody thinks Vettel was trying to actually crash Hamilton out of the race.

Vettel's intent is probably going to get talked about a lot. If he did deliberately crash into Hamilton, obviously that would be very bad, but I'm not convinced the alternative of "I lost control of the car because I was angry and took my hands off the steering wheel" is so much better.

For the record, I don't think it was intentional for him to actually make contact. But he clearly lost control of his car by being stupid and losing his temper. F1 drivers should be better than that, although I understand there's a lot of adrenalin in the cockpit.
Of course Jerez 97 applies! The reasons, circumstances and intent around what happened are totally irrelevant! He used his car to hit a competitors. Every race in the season is worth the same number of points regardless of whether it is the season finale or the first race. If a driver does what schumacher did or what vettel did the punishment should be the same. Just because it's the season finale isn't written in the rules and never will be! The action and intent is the same.

If I punch a competitor in the World Cup final versus the first game in the group stages should I be treated any different? Absolutely not! I get sent off and probably receive further sanctions after.