Photo: Aston Martin F1 Team
After missing the opening two races of the season because of COVID, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel returned to the cockpit just in time to take part in the 2022 Australia Grand Prix. Unfortunately for him and his team, things didn’t quite go as planned.
First, the four-time F1 world champion crashed his AMR22 in FP3, which of course compromised his qualifying session. Then he went off the track early in the race on Sunday, almost as if he was struggling to keep his car under control.
However, according to team principal Mike Krack, these incidents did not happen because Vettel had been lacking any cockpit time, as per Motorsport.
“I’m happy that Seb is fine first of all, after all these incidents,” said Krack. “But I think if someone like him, a four-time world champion, has these issues that he was having this weekend, this is not down to not driving – because he has driven the car.”
Krack went on to say: “This is really something that we need to really look at, what car we provide him, what feedback he gets from the car. Because you will agree with me that him being off so much as he has been this weekend is not normal.”
While it’s normal for a team principal to defend his drivers, it’s hard to believe that Vettel’s lack of cockpit time was a definitive non-factor in those crashes.
As for why Aston Martin has yet to score a point this season, it seems the issue is with both weight and aerodynamics.
“While we make progress on the weight side, we struggle on aerodynamics. So, this is something we need to really focus on. I don't want to go into the complete detail, but the reasons for the performance are normally in that area, and for us, it's the same. And then everything becomes much more difficult,” added the team principal.
However, according to team principal Mike Krack, these incidents did not happen because Vettel had been lacking any cockpit time, as per Motorsport.
“I’m happy that Seb is fine first of all, after all these incidents,” said Krack. “But I think if someone like him, a four-time world champion, has these issues that he was having this weekend, this is not down to not driving – because he has driven the car.”
Krack went on to say: “This is really something that we need to really look at, what car we provide him, what feedback he gets from the car. Because you will agree with me that him being off so much as he has been this weekend is not normal.”
While it’s normal for a team principal to defend his drivers, it’s hard to believe that Vettel’s lack of cockpit time was a definitive non-factor in those crashes.
As for why Aston Martin has yet to score a point this season, it seems the issue is with both weight and aerodynamics.
“While we make progress on the weight side, we struggle on aerodynamics. So, this is something we need to really focus on. I don't want to go into the complete detail, but the reasons for the performance are normally in that area, and for us, it's the same. And then everything becomes much more difficult,” added the team principal.
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