Sebastian Vettel says there are "too many" problems to mention after his Formula 1 return at the Australian Grand Prix featured drama from start to finish. Vettel missed the first two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with COVID-19 but managed to make his comeback at the revised Albert Park Circuit. However, what should have been an enjoyable reunion with his Aston Martin was anything but, as the German's Mercedes-powered AMR22 ground to a halt in first practice and wrote off most of his early track time. Then, in the final practice session, Vettel crashed out heavily to give his mechanics a significant repair job before qualifying; while he hit the track in the dying moments of Q1, he could only place 18th overall.
Vettel: We have a lot of things to improve, but don't have solutions
On race day, the situation got even worse, with Vettel making an early error as he took a trip through the gravel, before crashing out on Lap 25 of 58 when he lost control of his car riding the kerbs exiting Turn 4. To add to his on-track woes, Vettel was hit with a hefty fine for riding a marshal's scooter back to the pits after his FP1 stoppage, and triggered a second for his team when he broke the pit lane speed limit in qualifying. Reflecting on his dramatic weekend as he spoke to media, including RacingNews365.com , Vettel said: "I think overall we know that the car is difficult, and maybe I was wanting a little bit too much too soon." Pushed on exactly what he was struggling with, Vettel commented: "Oh, there's too many things going on! "I mean, we have a lot of things that we want to improve, [but] we don't have the solutions yet."
How much did Vettel's two-race absence impact his performance?
Aston Martin have promised an in-depth investigation into Vettel's weekend , with new team boss Mike Krack explaining that "we really need to check what tools we are giving him". Asked about the impact of his two-race absence, Vettel said: "It didn't help, but obviously in race conditions it was the first time. "There was a lot of stuff I picked up in the first couple of laps, but unfortunately [our race] was a bit too short." He added: "I'm a bit frustrated, but all in all I think we tried to do what we could. "[Up] to that point I think it was looking okay. Obviously, we were at the back, we know that our pace is not great, so I don't know what would have happened after." As for whether he expects a smoother experience next time out in Imola, he replied: "I don't know. We'll see. Now we have a lot of parts that are damaged! [But] I'm sure we will have a better weekend."
Most read
