Much has been written about Sebastian Vettel’s overtake on Kamui Kobayashi at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which looked to have happened under what looked like yellow flags. However that wasn’t the case after the FIA clarified that the warnings were in fact ‘slippery surface’ flags which are yellow and red and are advisory – therefore overtaking isn’t prohibited.
However onboard video footage has now emerged of a second overtake which shows the 2012 champion passing the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne under yellow flags.
An illuminated yellow board can be seen to the right of Vettel’s car as he exits the Curva do Sol. He then proceeds to overtake Vergne along the Reta Oposta, completing the pass some 60 metres before the illuminated green board – marking the end of the restricted zone.
Had the illegal overtake been spotted sooner, Ferrari may have been able to protest the result with Vettel likely to have been handed a 20-second post-race penalty for the rule infringement, knocking him down to 8th position – enough to hand the title to Fernando Alonso by a single point.
The move is however unlikely to offer Ferrari any hope of overturning the result following the publication of the final classification by the governing body.
Video: The video shows the yellow flag to the right. Vettel then passes the green flag to the left after he has completed the move. His steering wheel also shows a yellow light as he makes the pass.
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