Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has hit out at the time penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel third place.

While almost 90% of yesterday's Mexican Grand Prix was typically processional, the remaining 10% is the sort of thing that will have even those with barely a passing interest in the sport talking today.

While the press hits out at Sebastian Vettel for his expletive ridden rants - can you believe The Sun questioning the German's "crude word" - for the most part race fans appear to side with the German and in particular the post-race penalty he was handed.

Joining them is team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, who has described the penalty as "excessive" and "unfair".

"Today could have felt special," he said, "we fully deserved this podium, which was taken away by bureaucracy.

"The whole team had showed great stamina by staying united and focused in a difficult moment," he continued. "Our strategy had made it possible to make good progress through the race and both drivers did a very good job.

"Unfortunately, we were penalized by the stewards' unappealable decision which, in my opinion, is too harsh and somehow unfair."

His words cut no mustard at Red Bull however.

"I've never seen such a huge line change as when Vettel moved over to Ricciardo and pushed him off the track, leaving him no space at all," said Helmet Marko.

"Vettel completely turned in on him," he continued. "This is exactly what the anti-Verstappen rule should forbid you to do.

However, asked about the incident which saw his own driver, Verstappen, penalised, the Austrian said: "We support him. The decision is not understandable. They use different standards and this is not okay."

Unsurprisingly, Christian Horner continued the 'Max penalty bad, Seb penalty good' meme.

"There has been so much debate about movement on the brakes since Japan, a clear directive came out last weekend, and a clear movement was made on the brakes," he insisted. "Had that been prior to that ruling, it would possibly have been OK. But the rules are clearly what the rules are.

"Sebastian has ended up with a ten-second penalty that has now elevated both of our drivers to third and fourth. So we have had the slightly unusual scenario where we have had Max finish third on the road, make it as far as the green room, for Sebastian to go on the podium and take the plaudits, and for Daniel to be taking the trophy home.

"I am glad to see the stewards made the right decision regarding the incident," he concluded.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Mexico City, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Jol, 01/11/2016 1:15 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 01/11/2016 10:01)

"This comment was removed by an administrator as it was judged to have broken the site's posting rules and etiquette."

Rating: Neutral (0)

2. Posted by Editor, 31/10/2016 22:35 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 01/11/2016 10:01)

"@ Willie (by the way, we use four asterisks in each case but that doesn't mean it was a four-letter expletive.

After the Verstappen incident

Vettel: "Move! Move for **** sake!"

Vettel: "He's a ****, that's what he is."

Vettel: "I mean, am I the only one or are you not seeing what I'm seeing? He's just backing me off into Ricciardo ****."

Engineer Riccardo Adami: "Charlie said that…"

Vettel: "Yeah! You know what, here is the message for Charlie: **** off! Honestly, **** off."

After the Ricciardo incident…

Vettel: "Honestly, I'm going to hit someone I think I have a puncture, rear left."

Engineer Riccardo Adami: "Tyres are fine, tyres are fine."

On the slowing down lap…

Vettel: "He has to give me the position. End of the story."

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene "Sebastian, Sebastian, calm down, calm down. They are under investigation. I know that it is not fair but calm down. Put your head down and we talk afterwards."

Vettel: "OK, copy Maurizio.""

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3. Posted by Willie, 31/10/2016 22:19

"What, exactly, did Vittel say?"

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4. Posted by yakker, 31/10/2016 18:52

"If Hamilton went off in in the first corner and it was no penalty, then it was no penalty for Verstappen, in both cases there was no car along side them when they were entering the corner.
As for Vettel complaining he was being backed up by Verstappen into Ricardo, please don't tell me he didn't expect that. From karting, club racing through to professional racing it is done, stop whinging Vettel.
Verstappen has been good for F1, someone who overtakes and adds excitement. Kill off the driver steward, time penalties, stop/go penalties, points etc.. and lets go racing again."

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5. Posted by 4-Wheel Drifter, 31/10/2016 17:59 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 01/11/2016 10:01)

"Dear Klmn: Here is a message for you: following he logic of the Stewards, you get a 15 second penalty for naughtiness. As to the notion that Seb "pushed Daniel off the track and didn't give him any room, it certainly looks to me that not only did Daniel not go off the track, he didn't even get two wheels off of the track. And never mind that Seb was caught in a deliberate 'squeeze play' by pea-brained Max who hit the brakes (check the computer feed if you don't believe it) to hold up Seb so Daniel could get round him. What Seb did was drive defensively and he took the third place. The stupid FIA, as usual, managed to get the entire thing WRONG WRONG WRONG. And they wonder why people are turned off with their "product.""

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6. Posted by klmn, 31/10/2016 16:07 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 01/11/2016 10:01)

"This a message for Arrivabene " f*ck off , f*ck off "

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7. Posted by -ape-, 31/10/2016 15:23

"Ferrari always think they deserve a favourable treatment . "

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8. Posted by Pavlo, 31/10/2016 14:48 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 01/11/2016 10:01)

"Marko "never saw such a massive line change" - probably Mexico GP is the first time he watches F1 race.
"pushed him off the track, leaving him no space at all" - except that Dan has enough place to stay on the track with all 4 wheels.
Horner thinks "Had that been prior to that ruling, it would possibly have been OK". What a change of opinion, only a month ago it was "completely OK", and a right thing to do. Now it's only possibly OK.
And both at the same time think that Max was not guilty. The next time they say anything, can you believe a single word?"

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Arrivabene: We deserved the podium

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