Seventh place was within Vettel’s reach

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Friday looked as if the good pace of Aston Martin from Monaco and Baku was over. The 15th and 16th places in free practice gave little hope, but after qualifying, team boss Otmar Szafnauer said Sebastian Vettel might have been seventh.

The German had to settle for 12th in qualifying for Le Castellet (Formula 1 2021 live in the bar) as he couldn’t improve on the second attempt in Q2. “I don’t know what happened after his first run, but the second didn’t come back so fast,” said Szafnauer.

“He had problems gripping the front axle and was a bit slower, while the others got better,” says the team boss with amazement. At the end of the day, Vettel lost a ten and a half of a second to make it into the third quarter, which in his opinion was entirely possible. “It’s disappointing that we are 12th, but we can do something from there.”

Aston Martin has at least managed to improve significantly compared to the day before. “We learned and made the right modifications to the car,” says Szafnauer. Aston Martin brought a new front wing and revised brake cooling to the track on Friday, but initially followed suit.

“It was just about learning in training,” he said. “I think we did it well.” “It was fine in qualifying.” Only Lance Stroll couldn’t show it because he couldn’t get a timed roll.

Despite the modest starting positions, the team is paying off for the race: “We are very good in the long run. Overtaking is more difficult, but let’s see,” said Szafnauer. “We’re not out yet, that’s for sure.”