Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix certainly didn’t go to plan for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team, who were forced to retire both, Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, from the race as a result of mechanical issues.
Having started the race from eleventh and twelfth respectively, there was certainly an opportunity for the Aston Martin pair to score some points, especially with the numerous penalties that were taken from faster cars. However, the first failure of the race would happen to the four-time champion, Vettel, on lap twelve of the race. The German reports that an ERS issue caused a loss of power, prior to him stopping on track and causing a Virtual Safety Car.
“Unfortunately, we had an issue with the ERS and we had to stop the car. I noticed a drop in power beforehand, and then I was told to pull off the circuit. Overall, this was just a tough weekend for us,” the number five driver explained.
“I was hopeful for a decent race, but we struggled for pace and then had the problem that forced our retirement. The atmosphere was fantastic, however, so a huge thank you to the fans for their support this weekend.”
“I think we will be more competitive in Singapore” – says Stroll
Following the race around Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Stroll has revealed that the reason behind his late race retirement was an agreed decision to save the power unit for future events. While the Canadian didn’t open up on the exact issues he suffered with his British racing green-coloured car, he remains optimistic for the Singapore Grand Prix in three Sundays’ time.
“We had some issues with the car, so we decided to retire to look after the engine. It is a shame that we were not able to be more in the mix this weekend, but that is sometimes how it is in F1,” said the number eighteen driver.
“We have to look at why it was so tricky for us on this track, and see what we can learn from that. I think we will be more competitive in Singapore, which is a completely different circuit to here, in a couple of weekends.”
Aston Martin currently sit ninth in the Constructors’ Championship table; just eight points behind Scuderia AlphaTauri with six races to go in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
Image: Aston Martin F1 Press Site.