Race recap: Narrow points miss in Saudi Arabian GP
Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team's Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were both unlucky not to score points in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after a chaotic race.
Sebastian looked set to score points in 10th until rival drivers ruined his race with contact, while Lance completed the race in 11th.
Lance
Lance started the Grand Prix in 18th on a set of new Medium tyres before he and the team swiftly reacted to an early Safety Car by pitting for Used Hards.
Unfortunately, a Red Flag quickly followed Mick Schumacher's crash, which negated any potential advantage for Lance, now running in 19th.
But Lance made one of his characteristic strong launches to surge from 19th to 14th on the restart, which pushed him towards points contention.
A scrappy race restart elsewhere meant the field was once again returned to the pitlane for a second red flag.
Under the stoppage, Lance switched to another set of used Mediums, ensuring he could go to the end of the race without another stop.
"The first red flag went against us because we had pitted earlier, but we were able to make a couple of very good restarts following the stoppages to climb to P10," added Lance.
At midway distance, Lance moved into points contention and 10th after Yuki Tsunoda's clumsy lunge on Sebastian Vettel spun the duo off track.
Race report
Uncover the inside story of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with our in-depth race report. Discover the data underpinning our race and hear from Lance, Sebastian and CEO & Team Principal as they review our weekend in Jeddah.
Lance built a margin of more than five seconds over Lando Norris, but, with over half the race remaining, the McLaren driver reeled Lance in and make the overtake.
"We initially pulled a good gap to [Lando] Norris behind, but overtaking proved easier than expected and we just lacked a little bit of pace on the straights, so we could not hold onto P10," said Lance.
As a result, Lance ended the race in 11th, narrowly missing out on the points.
"It was a shame not to get points, especially because we came so close in the end in P11," said Lance.
"I was optimistic because the balance of the car felt good, but P11 was probably the maximum in the end."
Sebastian
Sebastian lined up in 17th and was one of only three drivers to line up on the Hard tyres as the team opted to try an alternative strategy.
But the early Red Flag led to a change of direction as the team reacted quickly to the on-track events.
Sebastian switched to a set of used Medium tyres during the delay, putting the faster compound to good use on the restart to surge all the way to 10th as chaos unfolded around the AMR21.
"Things were going our way in the early part of the race. Having started in P17, we were up inside the points after the restarts," said Sebastian.
"I was running ahead of the Ferraris, but we did not have the strongest pace today and we were under pressure."
Mini table tennis challenge
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That restart chaos led to a second Red Flag, and Sebastian took advantage on the second restart, dispatching Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc to go eighth.
The former would then ruin Sebastian's chances at points when he collided with Sebastian through the first sequence of corners, spinning him off track.
Sebastian recovered to 11th, but his AMR21 took another hit when Kimi Räikkönen made a clumsy move that led to significant bodywork.
"Yuki [Tsunoda] hit me in the first chicane, which dropped me down the pack," explained Sebastian.
While Sebastian continued in the race, he would retire six laps from the finish as a result of the damage incurred.
"A tough way to end the race [with significant floor damage] and a shame we lost the chance to fight for points properly," said Sebastian.
The incident with Kimi [Räikkönen] completely destroyed my race [with the damage caused].
"I had the track position and there is not enough room for two cars in that corner so I think Kimi needed to back out."
The team heads to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season and aims to end the season in style with a double-points finish.
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