Sebastian Vettel blasted race stewards who imposed a five-second penalty on the Ferrari driver that cost him victory in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, accusing them of "stealing the race" from his team. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was declared the race winner after Vettel was penalised for squeezing his rival off track as he rejoined during a high-speed incident on lap 50. The stewards judged that the Ferrari driver had made an unsafe re-entry and forced Hamilton off the circuit when he rejoined after running off across a strip of grass at the first chicane. "Where could I go?" said an angry Vettel on team radio. "I had nowhere to go... They are stealing the race from us... This is the wrong world. This is not fair."

After initially avoiding the post-race ceremonies, the crestfallen Vettel rejoined to appear on the podium where Hamilton pulled him up to join him on the top step. Their mutual respect was clear in front of a capacity crowd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. "Well, first of all, I really enjoyed the race and the crowd on every lap," said Vettel, without a win since last year's Belgian Grand Prix and under pressure to repeat his 2018 success when he won from pole position. "Seeing them cheer me on... It was very intense. I think you should ask the pit wall what they think, but we had a great show -- and Lewis showed some good respect." When Hamilton was asked to speak, the crowd began to boo. "All I can say is that I didn't make the decision," he explained. "So I don't know what they're booing at." Vettel intervened. "People shouldn't boo at Lewis," he said. "It wasn't his intention to be in harm's way. So, people shouldn't boo at him. They should boo at those who make the decisions."