F1 News: Ferrari decides to appeal Vettel's penalty as deadline nears

With the deadline approaching to file an appeal for Vettel's penalty Ferrari's spokesperson has informed that German News Agency DPA that they will go forward with the appeal.

The penalty has come under severe criticism from fans and former drivers alike as many took to the social media and referred to penalty as "stupid". Sky commentators on-air Martin Brundle and David Croft were flummoxed when the penalty was given and Martin Brundle even in his column expressed his disagreement with the penalty.

Ferrari Insider Leo Turrini in his blog 'Quotidiano' doubted that appeal could be made as it was a penalty during the race but also said that since such has been the magnitude of the backlash maybe common sense might prevail.

Ross Brawn, the sporting boss for F1 has kept himself at an arm's length for this one stating that "I don’t want to give an opinion on the decision because in my position it would be wrong to do so."

He further added that he had "a lot of respect" for the stewards but at the same time understood "how difficult it must be" for the fans to see Vettel's win taken away.

The podium was subjected to repeated boos and the fans were unanimously not in favour of the penalty given to Vettel

Emanuelle Pirro, on his part, came out in his interview with Formula Passion and clarified, "The world and racing have changed, as a racing fan, I’m sorry the race ended like that. It’s not easy to make these decisions, but sports integrity has to come before everything else. In short, the reason must prevail over heart and passion."

The incident and penalty after that have come under scrutiny with many experts calling out F1 for its practices and essentially "killing" racing in the process. For many, even the timing of the penalty was questionable because something as crucial as this could have been done after the race after hearing the side of the drivers as well.

The complete episode has brought the interest back to F1 albeit in a slightly negative light. It will be interesting to see what will be the next course of action. Will the appeal yield anything? Will, there be a reversal of decision which would be a popular decision in the eyes of many (But demean the stewards' authority) or will they stick with the decision. Either way, we will be hearing a lot more about this in the near future.