Sebastian Vettel: “It is disappointing to be pushed into the gravel again”

Sebastian Vettel joked that there must have been a target on his car during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend after being spun off track in both the Sprint and main race at the Red Bull Ring.

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team driver was spun into the gravel by Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon during Saturday’s Sprint and was then pushed into the gravel at turn four on Sunday by Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

The spin and damage to the car meant it was a tough day after that for the four-time World Champion, with Vettel ending seventeenth and last of the classified finishers having dropped behind Yuki Tsunoda after being handed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

“It is disappointing to be pushed into the gravel again [after the contact with Alex Albon yesterday],” said Vettel on Sunday.  “This time it was [Pierre] Gasly and it almost feels that there is a target on my car!

“I had made a good move on the outside and was ahead leaving plenty of space. I think he was just a bit too keen, ran into me, and I was off in the gravel. The car was not in the best shape after that and my race was pretty much done.

“Before that it was a tricky race because I was hit by some debris on the first lap, which may have damaged the car. We were not very competitive on the Hard tyres at the start, but the Medium was better and we were working our way through the field until the contact with Pierre.”

Vettel is looking to put his ‘unlucky’ weekend in Austria behind him and have a much better weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard later this month.

“I think we have had quite an unlucky weekend so let’s just turn the page and focus on the next race in France,” said the German.

“It was tricky to keep the faster cars behind” – Lance Stroll

Team-mate Lance Stroll had a better day in the second Aston Martin, but the Canadian could only finish thirteenth as he struggled for performance compared to many of his rivals.

Stroll found himself involved in the battle for the points early on but fell out of contention as different strategies played out, but he felt his battles on track were fun even if he was losing out to many of his rivals.

“My start was decent, and I could hold position and battle with the McLarens early on,” said Stroll. “I also had some good wheel-to-wheel moments out there with cars on different strategies, which was fun.

“However, it was tricky to keep the faster cars behind. It would have been nice to have come away with a point or two after a strong recovery drive yesterday, but we have to keep pushing and will try and return to the points in France.”

Lance Stroll ended thirteenth on Sunday – Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team