Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel believes the FIA stewards over-reacted by handing him a 10-place grid penalty following the German’s clash with Robert Kubica in Melbourne.

Kubica and Vettel were battling for second place when, with only three laps to go, the Pole launched a move around the outside, colliding with the rapidly slowing Red Bull machine.

A post-race investigation ruled Vettel was at fault for the accident, penalising the German for “causing a collision and forcing a driver off the track”.

Above: Teammates Mark Webber & Sebastian Vettel.  By Luxury Vice.

However, speaking on Thursday in Malaysia, Vettel restated his belief that the crash was a “racing incident”.

He said: “Of course I am not happy with the penalty. We had a strong weekend and a strong race and just a couple of laps to finish and we didn’t make it, so of course it is a shame.

“For me it was a racing incident. Obviously there is no logic behind taking him out of the race because it took me out of the race as well. It is not just a shame for him but also for us.”

Vettel though, remained optimistic about his team’s chances for Sunday, despite the grid penalty.

“I think we have a good car. I think we brought a good car to Australia and hopefully to here as well. The circuit is slightly different and the weather as Lewis said is not good at the moment,” he said.

The Vettel incident isn’t the first involving stewards to make headlines this season and will definitely not be the last during a season where officials will likely be as influential as the drivers.

Top photo by Zoubin.