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Vettel Frustrated with Singapore Penalty

Sebastian Vettel surely had a frustrating weekend in Singapore, as the German driver's chances of clinching the 2009 title are now close to zero. However, it's not necessarily that particular issue that left him unhappy with the Singapore result – 4th place overall – but the fact that he could have won the night race on Sunday.

Vettel was trailing McLaren's Lewis Hamilton for the lead yesterday night when he was handed a drivethrough penalty by the race stewards for speeding in the pit lane. That caused him to drop from 2nd to 4th overall, behind Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Shortly after the race, Vettel insisted that he didn't pass the 100kph limit on purpose and was quite surprised when his pit let him now – via the radio – about his wrongdoing. The frustration was even bigger as he wasn't even in a hurry to return to the track.

From my point of view, I wasn't in a rush and therefore I can't really explain why I got caught – we'll have to check if it's maybe an electronic issue, but (the speed limiter) was working before and afterwards so it's difficult to say. There's a bit of a question mark there,” said the German after the race.

As confirmed by the race stewards, Vettel passed the speed limit in the pit lane by only 1.4 kph (less than one mph). Due to that rule-braking, the German now has to settle for 25 points behind Jenson Button in the overall classification, rather than some potential 20 (the difference between his 4th place on Sunday and what could have been his 3rd win of the season).

Button finished the Singapore Grand Prix in 5th place, behind Vettel but ahead of title contender and Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello. His point advantage in the drivers' classification with 3 races to go is now 15 points, meaning he has to finish at least 4th in each of the final races of 2009 in order to secure his first title in career.
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