JULY 14, 2017

Vettel calls for jump start rules rethink

Sebastian Vettel has called for a rules rethink regarding jump starts in F1.

A week ago in Austria, the Ferrari driver disputed the FIA's insistence that Valtteri Bottas did not jump the start.

The current rules permit some movement of the car after the fifth light goes on, allowing for the engagement of the clutch.

But Vettel says this means a driver can anticipate the start of the race, rather than react purely to the lights going out.

Finn Bottas admits: "If you're moving exactly at the same point the lights go off you definitely are on the risky side rather than the safe side.

"Everyone is obviously free to kind of guess when the lights go off," he added.

But Vettel said that's wrong.

"He got away with it because that's the way the rules are," said the Ferrari driver. "So we should look at the rules more closely.

"I don't think any of us would risk trying to repeat what he did. If he tried it again he would not succeed, because it's impossible to predict the time of the start.

"His car started to move just before the lights went out," Vettel continued. "But even if you start at the same time, the human response is still greater than zero tenths of a second."

(GMM)