During his debut for Aston Martin during the Bahrain Grand Prix, Vettel found himself running into the back of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine while attempting to go into turn one.
Vettel, the winner of four Drivers’ world titles initially blamed Ocon for moving towards the left over the team radio. But on closer inspection, all the Frenchman was trying to do was trace the natural line into the corner.
Apologises After Earning 10 Second Penalty
Towards the end, Vettel apologised to his fellow rival and took complete responsibility for the incident. The stewards gave the 33-year-old German a 10-second penalty as he finished 15th, two places behind Ocon.
This incident was similar to others that Vettel was involved in during his controversial season with Ferrari, who then refused to extend his contract.
Schumacher Pitches In On The Incident
Six time F1 race winner Schumacher, in his column for Sky Germany, mentions that Vettel needs to really assess why he keeps getting into situations like these repeatedly. He also added that even though there were some technical problems with the new team, Vettel still was responsible for the mistakes he made during the race.
“During testing two weeks earlier, there were technical problems with the new team but Sebastian made mistakes himself in the race,” he said.
Schumacher also said that Vettel needs to get a grip on the way he handles situations like these. It was clear from the recordings that the incident was completely Vettel’s driving mistake.
“What bothers me most is the way he deals with it,” Schumacher said.
“When he drove into the rear of Ocon on lap 44, he immediately complained over the radio about Ocon’s supposed change of line.
“If you look at the recordings, however, it becomes clear that this is 100% Vettel’s driving mistake.”
Schumacher feels that with the kind of experience that Vettel has in the sport, he really needs to decipher why he keeps repeating mistakes like these again and again. A bit of self-introspection could really help the man, Schumacher adds.
Even though this is not a big deal yet for the fresh Aston Martin collaboration, but if incidents like these keep happening, the deal could reach a tipping point. What do you think the future holds for Vettel? Let us know in the comments below!
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Sadly the legacy of a 4 time world champion is being trashed, and Seb can no longer make excuses or blame anyone but himself, he should never have accepted the offer from Aston Martin, he was done! and now he will be the chopping block for that other imposter Lance Stroll. Seb was finished when he left Red Bull and Danny Ricciardo made him look second rate, then Leclurc? now Stroll, spare me the indignity of seeing him hurt himself because once…..he was a great champion, never a team player but nevertheless a champion.