SILVERSTONE, U.K. -- Sebastian Vettel believes Formula One's penalty system needs to be more flexible after he lost three grid positions and a potential race victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Vettel was penalised for impeding Carlos Sainz during the second part of qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, dropping him to sixth on the grid even though no damage was done and both drivers progressed to the third and final qualifying session. Had he started from third on the grid, where he originally qualified, he would have been in an ideal position to capitalise on the retirement of the two Mercedes drivers and finish ahead of eventual race winner Max Verstappen.
Asked about the penalty ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, Vettel said the FIA's desire to deliver consistent punishments has led to too much scrutiny of every on-track incident.
"I'm not a fan of these penalties," he said. "I think I've said as well in the past that it's our own drivers' fault, because we sit there on Friday afternoon [in the driver briefing], complaining about the decisions and the consistency.
"From my point of view, motorsport is not black and white, so naturally not every decision can be the same. I don't see the necessity to decide every time. That's what the sport has developed into. Every incident needs to be looked at. Racing incidents for some reason are not allowed to happen anymore. So we end up with a massive rulebook.
"I think we could have the header 'we're not allowed to race', because that's sometimes how it feels. In that situation in qualy, nobody was hurt. Carlos said it was no problem and he completely understood, he was very chilled, and I still ended up with a penalty. Obviously for me, it sucked on the day, it will probably suck for somebody else at a point in the season, but I just think that all these things are unnecessary.
"Sometimes it's not that you lose your mind or you do something crazy because you intend to, but you're trying to push the limits, and you do a mistake. I think it's happening everywhere else. I think there's a trend everywhere else where things are being investigated, which I really don't like the word."
Vettel was not given a warning about Sainz closing in on him over team radio, but said he still has full confidence in his team.
"Obviously, there was an error that happened to us as a team. I don't like to put the blame somewhere else. I've explained many times the penalty. Usually in that moment, we know what to do. I'm usually told. In that case I wasn't told. These things happen.
"We have a very good system in place, we're trying to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's my view. These kinds of things will happen to us, to other people. It's just part of our sport. If you share the track with others, then at some point, maybe you're in each other's way."