“Not Related to His Driving Performance” – Aston Martin F1 Boss Comes to Sebastian Vettel’s Rescue Amidst Rising Criticisms

The start to the 2022 season has been anything but ideal for Aston Martin and Sebastian Vettel in particular. Vettel’s season got derailed even before the first race of the season, as he tested positive for COVID-19 following the Bahrain pre-season test.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, his return to the track in Australia was also a nightmare as he crashed twice over the weekend.

Vettel and his nightmare in Australia

The German missed the opening 2 races of the season due to COVID. Although he was back in the car in Australia, the weekend was a complete disaster. He had an engine issue during FP1. And soon after, he crashed in FP3. He was also fined 5000 euros for an unauthorized scooter ride on the track. Ultimately, to cap it all off, he also crashed on lap 22 of the race.

Vettel was honest but optimistic at the same time when speaking to the media, he said, “You can’t take a lot of positive things away from this weekend. It doesn’t get any worse. So the next race can only be better,”

He also went on to add, “We have a lot of problems, but unfortunately no solutions yet.” speaking about the car’s lack of pace.

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However, Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack defended his driver. “Everything is fine with Seb. The fact that a driver like him, a four-time world champion, has so many problems over a weekend has nothing to do with his driving performance,” implying that there are issues with the machinery.

Aston Martin is yet to open their tally

The season looks to be a long and painful one for Aston Martin. Just like their entry into the sport, in 2021, their 2022 season generated a lot of hype but has so far been underwhelming. They have looked off the pace and have had no luck out on the track or off it.

Williams scored their first points of the season with Alex Albon at Albert Park. This means that Aston are now the only team yet to score a point this season. Recent reports also suggest that the AMR22 might be the heaviest challenger on the grid.

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The next race in Italy will see multiple teams debut upgrade packages. Aston Martin will hopefully be one of them if they want to get the season truly underway and put some points on the board.