Ferrari has stressed that Sebastian Vettel had to stop his stricken SF90 with immediate effect on safety grounds at the Russian Grand Prix.
Vettel had dropped behind team-mate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari orchestrated a strategic driver swap through the pit stop phase, owing to the instructions it had outlined for the start.
But Vettel slowed on lap 28 due to a loss of insulation on the power unit and was instructed to stop his SF90 straight away, which he did so on the outside of Turn 15.
The location of his stranded car promoted Race Control to implement the Virtual Safety Car, and the yet-to-pit Lewis Hamilton was able to take advantage by making his sole tyre change and still emerge in the lead.
Leclerc, meanwhile, dropped behind Hamilton, and also slipped behind Valtteri Bottas after Ferrari opted to undertake an additional stop for Soft tyres.
“We got a problem on the power unit, on the hybrid side of the power unit, and we got a loss of insulation on the car,” said Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto.
“For safety reasons, we called to stop immediately. Of course it’s a shame, because 100 metres later was the pit lane, but it was the safest action we could do for Seb, and the safety aspects.
“If it would have been for the rest of the car we maybe would have stopped in a different position but it was an instruction to stop as soon as you can because of safety.”
When asked what would have happened had he tried to return to the pit lane, Vettel jokingly made the noise of being electrocuted.
It marked Vettel’s first failure to finish a race in the 2019 season.
