Twelve months ago Sebastian Vettel got past Fernando Alonso at the Italian Grand Prix in the Curva di Lesmo with his outside wheels on the grass en route to victory and ultimately a second straight world title.

On Sunday, Alonso attempted to pass the German in a mirror image of the 2011 incident but the German did not leave him any room and Alonso’s Ferrari ended up on the grass.

Vettel received a drive-through penalty for not giving way under Formula One rules made stricter earlier this year – highlighting even before his retirement with an alternator problem that 2012 is simply not his year.

“I was upset, but what can I say,” Vettel said in reference to the penalty imposed by the race stewards at the home Grand Prix of Alonso’s Ferrari team.

Alonso was asked about the incident during the post-race press conference and, at first, refused to answer.

His enigmatic smile was however to confirm an impression that he agreed entirely with the stewards’ decision.

Asked again about the incident, however, and pressed to explain if it had cost him a chance to do better in the race, he said: “I lost 10 laps behind him, after the incident, and for sure the car was damaged because at 330 km/h you are jumping on the gravel — so I don’t think the floor and everything was fine after those jumps.”

He added: “I think that the people who are in charge of making the decisions took a careful view of everything. It is up to them to do their job.”