Interlagos stewards deem that no further action is required following today's incident involving Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.

Moments after the Monegasque had passed the German in Turn 1, Vettel, courtesy of DRS, swept past the youngster on the back straight.

However, the two cars touched and though the collision was minor both were out on the spot, bringing out the safety car for the second time.

The stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from both drivers and determined that both had the opportunity to avoid or mitigate the incident and therefore that neither driver was predominantly at fault.

"I didn't have much space to the right and obviously had a better run out of Turn 3 and tried to pass, that's it," said Vettel.

"He started to squeeze me a little bit to the inside," countered Leclerc, "and we were very close. Everything happened very quickly, and as soon as he went to the inside we touched.

"I'm pretty sure we are mature enough to put that behind us," he added.

"I think the drivers need to feel sorry for the team," Mattia Binotto told Sky Sports, "because at the end, they were free to fight. Free to fight but they know that silly mistakes are something we should avoid for the team itself.

"Today it has been a very small contact I have to say," he added, "but there will be time to analyse it, there will be time to look at the video, I don't want to do that in the heat (of the moment).

"With the drivers, I had already a chat with them and I don't want to judge now, they should not judge now, there will be a time to do it all together."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by aroutis, 18/11/2019 9:03

"@kenji, right on the money.
If Binotto cannot or won't do what you say, perhaps upper management needs to intervene.
At any rate, what happened is deeply disturbing for the team and I doubt that it will go away just like that. "

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2. Posted by kenji, 18/11/2019 3:56

"After watching the replays a few times i am reminded of Turkey and the Vettel/Webber incident. For the life of me i cannot see how any blame can be attached to Leclerc. He didn't deviate from his line!! That incident was completely down to Vettel and his growing problem with the red mist. The team should've intervened advising Vettel that Leclerc was faster on newer tyres and to race with due care. There will always be incidents in corners but when racing in what was in essence a straight line events such as this should not happen. Binotto must reign Vettel in even if it means stripping Vettel of No.1 status. The incidents are now seriously affecting the team and if they are to mount any serious challenge in 2020 then a dramatic change must happen."

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