"You can’t just stop the car and stay off the circuit": When Jenson Button came out in support of Sebastian Vettel

Former F1 world champion Jenson Button defended Sebastian Vettel after the incidents of the controversial 2019 Canadian Grand Prix, claiming that the penalty given to the German driver was unfair. Vettel received a time penalty while leading the race, meaning Lewis Hamilton was able to achieve victory without having to overtake the Ferrari man.

The 2019 Canadian GP saw one of the most controversial moments occur in the recent history of F1, when Sebastian Vettel was handed a five-second penalty, leading to Lewis Hamilton winning the race. Vettel had gone off the track and onto the grass at turn 3 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and rejoined the track just ahead of Hamilton.

Vettel rejoined the track on a narrow part of the circuit, and drifted onto the racing line. The stewards claimed that the driver rejoined the track unsafely, and forced Hamilton towards the wall, and awarded Vettel a five-second time penalty as a result.

This decision was hugely unpopular, with Vettel going ballistic over the team radio about it. After the race, Jenson Button, appearing on Sky Sports, also shared his sympathies with the 4x world champion.

"For me, it's a racing incident. Yeah Seb made a mistake, but you gotta realize, he's doing over 100 miles an hour here. You can’t just stop the car and stay off the circuit," said Button.

"He's come on the track with his rear moving around, he's had a snap. It doesn't deserve a penalty personally I don't think," he added.

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"For me, it's a racing incident. You can’t just stop the car and stay off the circuit." @JensonButton has his say on the Sebastian Vettel penalty which denied him a #CanadianGP victory

This incident also led to one of the most iconic moments in F1 history, when Vettel exchanged the #1 board in front of Hamilton's Mercedes in parc ferme, with the #2 board placed where his Ferrari should have been.

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Sebastian Vettel defended Lewis Hamilton after the 2019 Canadian GP incident

Martin Brundle, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton after the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix - Source: Getty

A section of the fans at Montreal booed Lewis Hamilton on the podium after the 2019 Canadian GP. Sebastian Vettel responded to this by defending his rival, claiming that the fans should not direct their anger towards the Briton.

After the race, Vettel expressed that fans should direct their anger elsewhere while in conversation with Martin Brundle on the podium.

"The people shouldn't boo at Lewis. If anything they should boo at these funny decisions," said Vettel.

After the decision was made initially, Vettel claimed that the race was being stolen from him over the team radio during the race. He also explained that he had nowhere else to go at that moment.

Hamilton also expressed that he did not wish to win the race in the manner that it panned out in the end. During the post-race ceremony, the Mercedes driver also invited Vettel to join him on the top step of the podium amid the crowd's boos.