Disdain and sympathy for Vettel after FP1 mistake

Vettel himself believed he got off the gas sufficiently and told reporters at the end of the day, "I think it's wrong, I think l slowed down. I think there should be common sense with the rules that we have."

Ferrari team chief Maurizio Arrivabene said: "The penalty was quite tough but the rules are the rules. Before it was mission impossible, now it's mission hyper-impossible. But everything can happen in Formula 1."

The four times F1 World Champion's former boss Christian Horner told reporters it was a "rubbish rule" and added, "It's not a good regulation and it's not a good penalty. We're over-regulated as a sport as it is."

Earlier this season, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was handed a three-place grid penalty for a similar transgression as was Force India's Esteban Ocon after speeding under red at Suzuka.

Despite his team set to benefit from the Vettel, penalty Mercedes chief Toto Wolff also sympathised, "For the championship obviously it's not good if Sebastian gets a penalty, we would obviously want him there and put on a good show."

"I think we need to talk about it. The safety of the stewards and of a car that's in the barrier is super important but we need to look at the regulations because we want to get rid of the penalties. Merging those two is not a trivial thing," warned the Mercedes chief.

Toro Rosso rookie Pierre Gasly added, “It’s quite a harsh penalty, if you’ve been really careful when you pass in front of the crash and just after you don’t pay attention so much and you get a penalty like this.

“Before, if there’s a crash and a red flag you just slow down a lot in the place you had the crash and then after that you drive carefully, and it’s not like you need to respect a certain time. It always worked in the past. Now it’s quite strict, but at the same time rules are rules and you need to respect them.

“It’s a shame, especially looking at the situation, still fighting for the championship, and now he gets a penalty it’s not so exciting,” added Gasly.

Sky pundit Paul di Resta was on the same page, "I feel for the drivers. Vettel slowed, it's just whether that delta is a bit too quick. When I look at that from a driver's point of view, I would say that is definitely slow enough and he's taken the appropriate action."

Yes, it's safety critical, but he slowed sufficiently for a Formula 1 car. As soon as he saw the red lights, he reduced his speed. All the drivers will be on Vettel's side on this. The rule needs changing. It needs to be tweaked," added Di Resta.

Conversely, Italian media who savaged the Ferrari driver after Suzuka, showed little restraint, with Gazzetta della Sport simply declaring in their hardcopy headline: "Another mistake."