Driver debrief by Aramco: Azerbaijan GP
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team driver Sebastian Vettel scored his best finish of the season, although Lance Stroll suffered mechanical issues.
Sebastian finished in sixth position in Azerbaijan, scoring eight points for the team in his best finish of 2022 so far. The tight city circuit proved difficult for both drivers, but it was a mechanical issue that saw Lance retire from the race at the end of lap 47.
Sebastian
Starting the race from within the top 10 on a set of Medium tyres, Sebastian had a successful getaway and managed to move up into eighth place, overtaking [Yuki] Tsunoda.
A Virtual Safety Car on lap nine caused by [Carlos] Sainz suffering a hydraulics failure gave Sebastian a chance to pit and change onto Hard tyres.
A well-executed 2.8-second pit-stop meant a quick return to the track in 10th place, allowing him to gain a position from [Lewis] Hamilton.
Race report by Aramco
The tight city circuit proved difficult for both drivers, but it was a mechanical issue that saw Lance retire from the race at the end of lap 47.
There was a tight chase over ninth place with [Esteban] Ocon, which was almost successful until a lock-up caused Sebastian to head off the track. However, a quick-thinking recovery spin meant he could return to the track with no damage and minimal time loss – but he still lost two positions in the incident.
The retirement from Sainz and pit-stops for many across the field helped Sebastian into eighth, then further promotions came from a successful overtake of Ocon and a retirement from [Zhou] Guanyu, meaning he eventually claimed sixth place.
Sebastian earned eight points for both the drivers' and constructors' championships.
We have been pushing the limits of this car and it is starting to pay off
"Today we were faster than Alfa Romeo and matched Alpine and Alpha Tauri, and that changes the game for us a little bit. The team did an amazing pit-stop, which enabled me to jump Lewis [Hamilton].
"After that, I was sure I had got past Esteban [Ocon], but I thought he would battle more for the position, so I took to the escape road and lost some time. Without that incident, I think I could have fought for fifth position.
"Nevertheless, this is a great result."
Lance
Lance started the race on Hard tyres in 19th position, but a number of pit-stops from other drivers during the Virtual Safety Car on lap nine meant he swiftly moved up into 14th place.
His strategy to complete a long stint on his first set of tyres meant lots of time to battle for positions, and although being overtaken by Guanyu and [Kevin] Magnussen, Lance regained places from further pit-stops elsewhere across the field.
Lance eventually entered the pits on lap 38 in 14th.
Returning to the track ahead of [Mick] Schumacher kept Lance in 14th, but his engineers warned him of an increasing vibration issue on lap 48. As a precaution, the team decided to retire Lance's car from the race.
Due to previous incidents across the rest of the field, Lance was still classified in 16th place.
Sebastian proved our car has the pace, so hopefully we can come back stronger for my home race
"It is a shame that we had to retire the car. The engineers could see it was suffering from a vibration issue, so they asked me to retire the car.
"We are still not quite sure what the problem was, so we will have to do some work over the next week to investigate it and fix things.
"Sebastian proved our car has the pace, so hopefully we can come back stronger for my home race in Canada next week, which I am really looking forward to."
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