Race recap: Sebastian seventh in 2021 Mexican GP
Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team's Sebastian Vettel scored six points in the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix.
Sebastian made progress with a well-executed race strategy while Lance recovered from a back of the grid start to make up six positions.
Sebastian
Sebastian started the race from ninth and, by steering clear of an incident involving Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo in Turn One, gained one position on the opening lap.
This collision caused the deployment of the Safety Car, and when the race was resumed on lap four, Sebastian was chasing Antonio Giovinazzi for seventh.
Mexican Grand Prix
Uncover the story of the Mexican Grand Prix with our in-depth race report. Discover the data underpinning our race and hear from Lance, Sebastian and CEO & Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer as they review the Mexico City race.
The Alfa Romeo driver pitted on lap 17 of 71, and, with clear air ahead, Sebastian improved his pace, lapping one second faster per lap.
"We had shown competitive long-run pace on Friday," said Sebastian. "And I knew that if we could hold position on lap one, we would be able to stay there and score points."
Running as high as fifth as race strategies unfolded, Sebastian pitted for fresh tyres on lap 34, swapping his race-starting used Mediums for a set of new Hards to rejoin in ninth.
It was a solid weekend by the team and I am pleased we could score some good points.
When Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris pitted on laps 40 and 45, Sebastian regained seventh to score six points at the finish.
"We obviously benefited from the spin for Valtteri [Bottas], although it actually held me up a bit, and the damage to Daniel’s [Ricciardo] car, but we managed to recover a position from [Antonio] Giovinazzi using the strategy," he added.
"After that, I was on my own for most of the race with decent pace. It was a solid weekend by the team and I am pleased we could score some good points."
Lance
Starting from 20th on the grid on used Medium tyres, Lance avoided the drama of Turn One to move into 16th, making up four positions on the opening lap.
Following the Safety Car period, the Canadian moved 15th by overtaking Nicholas Latifi.
"We did what we could from the back, but it was tricky today. It is difficult to race from last place here because it is not easy to follow and overtake," explained Lance.
"The car felt good, but we were on the back foot from the start."
Lance fitted the new Hard compound tyre on lap 13, and pitted once more for fresh Mediums on lap 36 to continue his advance up the field.
The highlight of my race was the move on George Russell late on, but there was not much more we could do today.
An overtake on George Russell on lap 57 proved to be Lance's finest moment as he launched a move around the outside at Turn One before putting up a stern defence through the chicane.
A late pitstop for Valtteri Bottas then promoted Lance to 14th at the close of the race.
"We were hoping things would happen in front of us to help us gain places, but we needed more to go our way," he continued.
"The highlight of my race was the move on George [Russell] late on, but there was not much more we could do today.
"Now we focus on Brazil and aim to fight for points there."
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