Wolff warns against criticising Canada stewards over Vettel penalty

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the Canadian Grand Prix stewards should not be criticised for their decision to punish Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton was awarded the race win, despite Vettel crossing the finish line first, as the German was punished for re-joining the track unsafely.

Under pressure from Hamilton as he led the race, Vettel lost the back end and was on the grass coming out of Turn 4 in Montreal, fighting to regain control as he skidded onto the track.

Hamilton had to jam on the brakes as he spotted a gap, avoiding a collision in the process.

Vettel's actions were deemed unsafe and he was punished, albeit to huge uproar from Ferrari and wider F1 fandom, but Wolff says the regulations, rather than the stewards, ought to be in the firing line.

"That's not always very popular, but somebody needs to do the job," Wolff said.

"This is why, whether decisions go against you or in favour of you, you need to be supportive.

"We want the best people. If you criticise them like we do today, nobody's going to do the job.

"We need competent people and I can tell you the guys who were on the stewards panel today they are some of the most experienced racing drivers on the planet.

"Therefore you need to respect their decisions, whether they go for you or against you.

"My view on the incident is that it's very difficult for stewards to interpret regulations so that everyone is satisfied.

"What we must not do is put the stewards under pressure in a way that they will struggle even more in the future to come up with decisions.

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