Sebastian Vettel excluded from Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying

Over four hours after the end of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA have now confirmed that Sebastian Vettel has been excluded from qualifying after his Red Bull RB8 coasted to the side of the track towards the end of the one hour session. Due to an insufficient amount of fuel in the car, the German will start the race from 24th and last.

With scenes reminiscent of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton also coasted to a halt on his way back to the pits, speculation immediately arose of possible penalties for the German driver. However, after much deliberation by the stewards, it has now been officially confirmed that the reigning World Champion has been excluded to the back of the grid.

The Formula 1 regulations state that: “Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event. Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power." The FIA have confirmed that Sebastian Vettel’s machine yielded “insufficient fuel” for this sampling, therefore forcing the stewards to impose exclusion from the session, the same penalty which was issued to the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton after qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.

"The stewards heard from the driver and team representatives and studied telemetry evidence that showed the reason why the car was stopped.” Read the official statement by the FIA, “The Stewards accepted the explanation and considered the incident as being a case of force majeure. However a report was received from the Technical Delegate that showed during post-qualifying scrutineering an insufficient quantity of fuel for sampling purposes."

This decision by the race stewards potentially throws the World Drivers’ Championship wide open, with Championship leader Sebastian Vettel set to start the race from way down in 24th position. This means fellow Championship rival Fernando Alonso now has a perfect opportunity to deplete Vettel’s points advantage, regarding the Spaniard can finish competitively during tomorrow’s race. The Ferrari driver will start tomorrow’s race from 6th.

With Sebastian Vettel demoted to the back of the grid, this means the Williams of Pastor Maldonado will start a tremendously competitive 3rd, alongside the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen who will now start from 4th position. Tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be a very interesting race, as Sebastian Vettel strives to claw his way up through the order during the 55 laps.

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