It's funny how a lot of people are mad at FIA for being consistent for once. Back when Bottas jumped the start they explained that there is no wiggle room, either the sensor says they jumped the start or not and they give penalties according to that.
Also Vettel kinda penalised himself there.
Most people barely even remember rules or cases from 3 races ago, let alone from other seasons, which is why it's hilarious reading the conspiracy theories about how the 5th placed driver in the championship didn't get a penalty because of reasons. It's always been about sensors, and there have been cases in the past (in F1 and elsewhere too) where a driver kinda started early but happened to have the luck to have the red lights go off exactly at that instant, so they got away with a ridiculously good start legally. Then of course there's that time Massa started quite a few inches ahead of his normal spot but the sensors saw nothing wrong and Whiting from his area noticed nothing either.
Of course to someone not used to such technical sports it may seem odd, but it's all about being inside certain values at the right time, it's what F1 is about. This is why for decades teams tried their best to make sure the car behaves differently in actual tests than in the actual race - most recently Red Bull at the start of the decade with their visibly flexible thing that, however, still managed to go through FIA's tests because they'd only flex at actual speeds, not at the tests where they just apply weight onto them. Vettel started early, no doubt about that, anybody saw it. But it wasn't enough for the sensor to go off, and as such the FIA has their hands tied: they can't penalize.
And the irony with jumpstarts is that half the time the driver fucks himself over because not only he starts early and risks getting a penalty, but he also stops to a hault and likely loses positions in the process. Last time around Kimi lost a lot of positions, this time Vettel lost one but was under direct threat by at least two other cars because of that weak start instead of his and Ferrari's usual rocket boost starts. If the sensor kicks in it's a penalty, but of course it's only a natural reaction to stop if you realize you started early. Ironically, it would be best to just floor it if you started early. Take the penalty which is probably the same anyways but don't penalize yourself further by even eliminating the advantage you built. See:
It looks goofy as fuck but he was always gonna get penalized as soon as he passed the first car in the back. May as well floor it, try and build whatever advantage he can and then see what's his penalty.
