Vettel hit by five penalty points in ‘tricky’ Aston Martin debut
Aston Martin’s German driver Sebastian Vettel drives during the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in the city of Sakhir on March 28, 2021. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)
Sebastian Vettel suffered one of the most disappointing days of his recent Formula One career on Sunday, failing to score a point on his debut with Aston Martin and collecting five penalty points on his super-license.
The four-time champion had arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit full of hope but by Sunday evening he was struggling for upbeat words as many paddock observers shrugged and offered only sympathy.
His day began with a five-place grid penalty for failing to obey double yellow flags in Saturday’s qualifying and continued with a collision with Esteban Ocon’s Alpine under braking at Turn One in the race.
Vettel was found to be at fault for that accident and was handed two penalty points to go with the three he received earlier in the day.
In the end, he struggled on and finished 15th.
“It was obviously a tricky race for me,” he said.
“I was trying to cut back to the left, but Esteban was moving left as well. And then, when I was right behind him, I locked the fronts and hit him straight on. So obviously that was not great for both of our races.
“We tried the one stop. We had to try something different. Initially, it looked like it wasn’t that bad, but, towards the end, I was struggling quite a lot with tires. ” So, I don’t think we could have realistically scored points today.”
