Aston Martin ‘too much of a handful’ for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel admitted the Aston Martin had been “too much of a handful” at the end of his eventful Australian Grand Prix weekend.

It was the first race Vettel had contested this season for he missed Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after contracting COVID-19.

Aston Martin have been enduring a wretched start to the campaign and the visit to Melbourne made it three races in succession without a points finish for the team.

Vettel found himself fined by the stewards on both Friday and Saturday, firstly for riding a scooter on the track when he should not have been doing so after his car had broken down, and then for speeding in the pit lane during qualifying.

The German had crashed in FP3, his car only just being repaired in time for one shot at qualifying and having started 17th on the grid, his race continued in similar vein.

A lock-up and a brief ‘off’ on lap 11 prompted an apology over team radio from the four-time former World Champion, but a more serious incident occurred 13 laps later when he crashed into the wall to bring out the Safety Car.

Safety Car deployed. #SV5 hits the wall and stops at T5. That's the end of his race. He's ok and out of the car. #F1 #AusGP

— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 10, 2022

“[It was] maybe too much of a handful for me today,” Vettel told reporters about the AMR22, his team-mate Lance Stroll having finished 12th in the sister car.

“I tried to get the best out of the car that I can and with hindsight maybe I was pushing too hard. Once I lost it there was no chance to come back.”

Asked whether it had been a result of a badly-handling car or a lack of recent mileage, the 34-year-old said it had been “probably a bit of both”.

Of his lack of match practice, he added: