This wasn’t the first qualifying with Aston Martin that Sebastian Vettel had hoped for. After too many early exits in a disappointing last season with Ferrari last year, the four-time world champion suffered the shame of leaving the first quarter at the season opener in Bahrain – although bad luck played a major role.
After Aston Martin didn’t disrupt the sharp end of the timesheet in practice, his progression was of great interest for qualifying. But while Lance Stroll made the third quarter and finished P10, Vettel was bumped into relegation spots in the last few moments of the first quarter after his last run was spoiled when Haas rookie Nikita Mazepin spun in front of him at Turn 1 and then others Yellows blew up Turn 8 after Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari lost its power.
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Then Vettel explained his frustration in front of a P18 starting position: “Of course we should be much faster. We just made it over the line and then obviously had the yellow flag issue during the lap so it was a bit impossible to get back but it’s what it is now and we’re trying to see what we can do tomorrow. “
Sebastian Vettel is frustrated after Q1 ‘Chaos’ brought him to P18
When asked if he was annoyed that Mazepin had violated a gentleman’s agreement by driving past his car as the drivers lined up at Turn 14 to start their laps, Vettel said, “Yes, but in the end I think we must have problems run so slow to get the tires where we want them to be. With so many cars on the track, it becomes a mess.
“After the first lap in which I made a mistake, I had a big advantage [Turn] 11. The second round had a lot of yellows and we couldn’t improve. “
READ MORE: Mazepin blames the brake-by-wire problem for the spin-filled qualifying debut
Mazepin’s spin brought out the yellow
Despite the setback, Vettel said he would stay relaxed: “If I panicked now, would it help? What if I was really upset? Of course, I’m upset and angry that it wasn’t our fault not making it, but we have to take it and do what we can to prepare tomorrow.
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“I’m learning. I think the qualification was good and it felt positive, obviously I only had a lap and a half, but I think we still have a lot of work to do and I think you know we could get off to a better start hoped, but it is what it is. Hopefully we have a good race tomorrow. I think we can achieve a lot and see what brings today. “
Vettel was only turned off once in the first quarter of Monza last year. He is a four-time winner in Bahrain but only managed to finish P13 last year. With a tough and tight field ahead of you, it could be difficult to score points on his Aston debut.
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