Sebastian Vettel is wanting to go into the summer break on the back of a “positive weekend”, meaning that the four-time World Champion is targeting points at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
With the summer break following Hungary, Vettel is wanted a “strong result” to take into the summer, where he’ll decide on whether to retire or not at the end of the season. The German came agonisingly close to a point at the French Grand Prix, after being beaten to tenth-place by team-mate Lance Stroll. However, Vettel was left furious with Stroll who cut across the front of Vettel’s AMR22 in questionable fashion.
He’ll be hoping for a less stressful weekend at the Hungaroring, a circuit he calls “tricky”.
“Hungary has become the traditional end-of-summer race before the break, which makes it important to get a strong result before the shutdown. It is a tricky little circuit – everyone thinks of it as a low-speed track, but it has some fast corners round the back that require plenty of attention. We had a good race there last year, and I think the venue should play to the strengths of our car so I am looking forward to a positive weekend.”
“We want to carry greater momentum into the summer” – Lance Stroll
Following on from his tenth-place finish in France, Stroll is aiming to carry “greater momentum” into the summer break with back-to-back points finishes. To do that, though, he’ll need to finish in the top-half this weekend in Hungary.
Stroll “generally enjoys” racing at the Hungarian venue; however, played a part in a huge Turn One pile-up last season in wet conditions. With the weather on Sunday looking similar to that of last season, Stroll will be hoping not to play a role in a similar incident this weekend.
The Canadian driver wants to end the first-half of the season in “fantastic” fashion, where he hopes the team can continue to improve.
“It would be fantastic to come away with a good result this weekend after a difficult first half of the season. The Hungaroring is a great track with some really fun corners and I generally enjoy driving here. It feels a lot like a kart track in a lot of ways; the corners are relentless and quickly flow from one to another. We have shown that we have improved race pace and we want to carry greater momentum into the summer break and the second half of this season.”
Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team