Sebastian Vettel had a weekend to forget in Austria. The four-time world champion ultimately finished last after 3 cars retired, as luck was not on his side. Following some positive results in the recent weeks, this was not an ideal race for the German.
Vettel also retired from the sprint race on Saturday for no fault of his own. Williams driver Alex Albon, who had an eventful day, collided with the Aston Martin man, which damaged his car. As a result, he only started P18 ahead of Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas.
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On to Sunday, drivers continued to run into him, and this time it was Pierre Gasly. As Vettel was about to overtake the Frenchman, he bumped into the 35-year-old’s AMR-22, which sent him into the gravels. The FIA presented Gasly with a five-second time penalty, but Vettel was undoubtedly disheartened and bemoaned on the radio.
“what’s wrong with people? what’s wrong with these people?… MAN MAN MAN!! can i have a race without these clowns?!”
pic.twitter.com/nQmT7ef1JU— dan ☀️ (@sunnysideseb) July 10, 2022
He said, “He has to give up the corner; I had the nose ahead. What is wrong with these people?” As his engineer asked if the tires were fine, he added, “Well, I think it’s ok, not sure about the car though. Man, man, man…can I have a race without these clowns?”
READ MORE: Sebastian Vettel Provides Insider Glimpse Into ‘Childish’ FIA-F1 Driver Discussions
Furthermore, Aston Martin is struggling to match their rivals despite bringing in massive upgrades recently. They will hope to improve sooner than later as the German continues to ponder on his future with the team.
A disappointing Austrian GP for Sebastian Vettel
From Friday’s disappointing qualifying to Sunday’s frustrating race, Vettel and Aston Martin will hope to move on quickly from this week. However, the German was also fined around $25,270 as he stepped out of the driver’s meeting without permission and expressed his frustration after the qualifying session.
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To add to his woes, the FIA awarded him a five-second penalty for crossing the track limits several times. Track limits were a point of discussion among experts and fans alike, but Vettel only learned about his penalty during an interview.
He stated, “I had three [strikes], and I didn’t get a warning. So I don’t know how I can get a penalty if I don’t get a warning because I had three strikes, that was what I was told until the last lap, and then it goes to five. It’s a bit strange.”
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This penalty demoted him to P17, behind Yuki Tsunoda. Things were not smooth sailing for Sebastian Vettel, but he will hope that it can turn around during the French Grand Prix.