Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was subdued after the F1 Italian GP where he said he didn’t see Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who was left upset too.
It wasn’t a great start from Vettel in F1 Italian GP at Monza, where he lost fourth to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg but he retook the place on the next lap. However, it all went wrong when he spun on his own at Ascari.
Vettel said he simply lost the rear, which sealed his fate. He might have scored points despite the spin but his rejoin was straight penalty as he hit Stroll, who spun as well and made the same mistake as Vettel in rejoining.
The Canadian pulled onto the track and nearly hit Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly. Vettel was handed a 10-second stop and go penalty, while Stroll was handed a drive-through – both finishing outside the points.
Post-race, Vettel was certainly subdued, owing to his mistake while adding that he didn’t see Stroll when he tried to get back on. “Obviously, I am not happy with it,” said Vettel. “I can’t be happy with my day.
“We had a good start, we lost a position and got it back, re-connected to the cars ahead and then I lost the rear and couldn’t catch it, so simple as that. It was my mistake. After that, I was not happy with the race as it went on.
“On the incident, I struggled a couple of times to get the car going. I struggled to get in the right direction as well, so I couldn’t see Lance. I haven’t lost the love [despite the these incidents].
“Of course, I still love what I do, when you know you aren’t doing well when you know you can, so you can’t be happy.” With him finishing 13th and Charles Leclerc winning, he has got ahead in the drivers’ standings.
With more penalty points, Vettel has now nine in the 12 months period and three more will lead to a race ban for the German. His clearance won’t start until the middle of October.
On the other side, Stroll was certainly upset with the incident as he said, he did all he could to avoid but still was hit. He did admit to committing the same mistake on Gasly, only that he didn’t touch as Vettel did.
“That’s a tough one to take,” said Stroll. “We should have scored good points. It all went wrong when Vettel came back on the track very aggressively and hit me. I’m quite upset with him for what happened.
“I tried to avoid him by going to the left but he just kept moving forward and eventually we made contact: I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did everything I could to avoid him.
“I was even cautious with the yellow flag. I lifted off and he just came back on at Ascari and there was really nothing I could do, even at the speed I was going. He clipped me, I spun and then I was pointing the wrong way.
“When I was coming back onto the circuit myself, I couldn’t see Pierre as I was just trying to get off the racing line and away from the dangerous position Vettel forced me into.
“We were looking pretty strong in seventh, with a decent gap to eighth, pulling away from the McLaren, and keeping the Renaults in sight. It was looking like a pretty smooth race from there, but it just goes to show how quickly things can turn around.
“There’s a lot of racing left this year and more improvements to come. This one is going to sting for a day or two. I think there were a lot of points up for grabs, but that’s racing.” Teammate Sergio Perez finished seventh.
Check out how F1 Italian GP panned out
