VIDEO: Grosjean sparks F1 seatbelt debate in driver briefing

In a move to give fans more of an insight into the workings of Formula 1, a series of ‘sneak peak’ videos have been produced to get a behind the scenes look at the driver briefings with the Japanese Grand Prix meeting sparking controversy around seatbelts.

F1 driver briefings are headed up by FIA race director Charlie Whiting and involve every driver plus team representatives and held on Friday afternoons after free practice two. Typically it gives drivers a chance to voice questions or concerns from the previous race as well as that weekend’s race and the circuit.

In Japan, the central talking point was Sebastian Vettel’s clash with Lance Stroll on the cool-down lap at the Malaysian Grand Prix and the fallout from it, including the German taking his Ferrari steering wheel from his car.

Vettel was warned about hitching a lift on top of Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber having avoided any penalties despite Mark Webber being slapped with a 10-place grid penalty for doing the same thing with Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari in the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix.

But the video’s discussion revolved around Romain Grosjean’s query about what would be the FIA’s actions if drivers undid seatbelts after the race had finished on the cool-down lap.

In an intriguing chat, Whiting said he thought loosening seatbelts was fine but undoing them would be wrong until Lewis Hamilton confessed he undid his belts rather than loosen when waving to fans and celebrating.

Hamilton also joked Vettel shouldn’t be allowed to undo his belts after his crash with Stroll which caused laughter between the drivers.

Check out the full video here.