After a strong performance in Qatar with a double point classification from Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, Aston Martin would have marched into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the hope of another such impressive appearance. This has not been the case so far, however, as this is instead turning into a weekend to be forgotten for the British outfit.
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Aston Martin was in the back seat from the start, struggling to get the cars set up properly. This was not only the case on Friday, but also during the final training session on Saturday.
Formula 1 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 4th, 2021 Aston Martins Sebastian Vettel during the qualifying pool via REUTERS / Giuseppe Cacace
With the rest of the midfield looking more competitive than ever, qualifying was always a fuzzy 60-minute session for Aston Martin.
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Neither Vettel nor Stroll rightly made it out of the first part of qualifying. Despite the obvious speed disadvantage, however, the 4-time world champion was absolutely shocked when he heard the news that he could not save himself from the bottom 5.
What did Sebastian Vettel say?
Vettel rushed to the team radio after his final Q1 run, hoping to hear good news. But what he heard instead was that he was only P17 and more than 0.25 seconds behind Fernando Alonso in P15. When Vettel heard the numbers, he marched into the world of denial.
The German couldn’t believe that he hadn’t made it into Q2 as he felt his lap was good enough. “What? Oh man!” cried Vettel in shock. “Sorry for the mess in the last corner. No way how much? “
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“So the car is two hundredths ahead,” replied Vettel’s race engineer.
Formula 1 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 3, 2021 Aston Martins Sebastian Vettel during practice REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed
After all, Vettel blamed the insane traffic around the last corner as the reason for his poor qualifying result. “We definitely haven’t lost it, turn into traffic; that wasn’t great. So that’s it, ”said the former Red Bull World Champion.
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While Vettel managed to claim P17 overall, his teammate Lance Stroll landed further down on P18. This is indeed a new low for Aston Martin, which has proven to be the second slowest car after Haas. So can any of the drivers take a rest on Sunday to give the team some points to increase morale?
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The post WATCH: Sebastian Vettel reacts in agony after Aston Martin’s terrible qualifying show in Saudi Arabia first appeared on monter-une-startup.
