Brawn: Nothing "sinister" about Vettel penalty

The former Ferrari technical director insisted that despite the controversy, the decision was not made with ill intentions towards Ferrari and Vettel in particular.

"I can understand how Vettel feels and I know Ferrari intends to appeal the decision," Brawn said in his post-race review.

"I also know what a difficult job the stewards have, as they have to reach a their decision in a very short time, producing a verdict that can affect the outcome of the race.

"As such, I don’t want to give an opinion on the decision, because in my position it would be wrong to do so.

"I have a lot of respect for the work of the stewards and for their professionalism and I believe they would be the first to say that they would prefer not to see a race outcome decided via a penalty."

Brawn also added that F1 could do with a system for the race stewards to publish their reasoning behind any decisions they make during a race.

"At the same time, I understand how difficult it must be for fans to understand why the driver on the top step of the podium is not the one who crossed the finish line first. That’s why transparency is important when it comes to explaining the decisions of the Stewards, especially in such a complex sport as Formula 1.

"It is in football, where despite the arrival of VAR, there is still discussion as to whether a handball should be punished with a penalty or not.

"Therefore, it might be useful to work with the FIA on solutions that would allow the stewards to explain their decisions to the fans and to elaborate on how they reached them.

"Having said that, I would emphatically add is that there is nothing sinister about a decision like this. You might agree with it or not, but none of those who take on the role of steward each weekend has a hidden agenda and fans can be certain of that."

Follow GPblog now on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook!