Hot scene between Sebastian Vettel and teammate Lance Stroll at the French GP: In the last lap, the Aston Martin drivers are still fighting for the last point for tenth place. Vettel arranges Stroll in the target curve in order to accelerate him in the last few meters to the checkered flag. But the Canadian doesn’t play along…
“In the end I was faster and caught up with him quickly, but I ran out of time. Lance also caught up with the car in front and got DRS, so it was difficult. In the last corner I had a chance,” describes Vettel . “At the apex of the curve, however, he hit the brakes and I almost ran into him. After that it was over.” Vettel is mad!
Stroll brutally blocked Vettel in the last corner.
But he doesn’t want to make a big fuss about the scene after the race, according to the motto: The smarter ones give in – just like before on the track: “It’s okay, he surprised me a bit in the last corner, but I didn’t want to take too many risks either. It’s the same result for the team: We’re fighting for a point and in the end it doesn’t matter to the team who gets it,” says the Hessian, playing down the internal braking test.
There is still praise for Vettel from ex-world champion Nico Rosberg on Sky: “Seb has found his old strength again, which makes me happy. That’s why I hope all the more that he will continue and that Aston Martin will manage to give him a better car. ”
The second German in the field, Mick Schumacher, also experienced a Sunday to forget in southern France. He is also one of the big losers in the safety car. Because his Haas team gets both drivers in early to change tires “to get a free ride,” as team boss Günther Steiner explains.
Due to the safety car, almost all competitors then get a free stop and Schumi jr. finds himself at the end of the field, just like his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who later retires.
In Schumacher’s case, there was also a collision with Guanyu Zhou through no fault of his own. The Alfa Romeo driver loses his car in a duel with Schumacher and turns the German around, getting five penalty seconds from the race control. For Schumacher, the competition is out of reach after the incident, in the end he only crosses the finish line in 15th and last place.
“Tyre management today was more problematic than expected and the weekend was generally quite difficult,” says Schumi jr. after the race and adds: “Nevertheless, the last stint wasn’t too bad. If we had started a little further up the field, it might have been enough (to score points; ed.). Overtaking was difficult.”
Despite the bleak race weekend in Le Castellet: After two trips into the points, most recently in Silverstone and Spielberg, things are looking rosy overall for the German’s Formula 1 future – at least that’s what Uncle Ralf Schumacher believes. When asked about a possible contract extension for his nephew at Haas, the German said on Sunday: “I think the chances are great. The team structure has grown together because of the good results. That should be something.”
