Driver debrief: Monaco GP
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team driver Sebastian Vettel overcame a challenging wet-to-dry Monaco Grand Prix to score a point, while team-mate Lance Stroll made progress around the tricky-to-pass circuit.
The team reacted well to the arrival of pre-race rain, with the downpour leading to the F1 field preparing for a wet-race-affected strategy after the opening formation lap halted the Grand Prix until the heavy rain passed.
Sebastian
Despite the difficult weather conditions, Sebastian made a strong rolling start to maintain his ninth-place position on the opening laps.
Starting on the Wet tyres, he continued to put in consistent times before pitting at the end of lap six of 64, switching to Intermediates and returning in 16th as the track began to dry.
An overtake on Daniel Ricciardo on lap 20 demonstrated Sebastian's pace.
A second pitstop on lap 23 put Sebastian onto the Hard compound.
The second red flag of the race happened on lap 30, following Mick Schumacher's accident, which meant a return to the pitlane and led to the race being shortened from 77 laps to 64.
Monaco Grand Prix
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team driver Sebastian Vettel overcame a challenging wet Monaco Grand Prix to score a point, while team-mate Lance Stroll made progress around the tricky-to-pass circuit.
Opting to remain on Hard tyres, Sebastian then maintained his 11th place for the remainder of the race, with progress halted by Fernando Alonso backing up a train of cars on the narrow street circuit.
But Sebastian was promoted to 10th post-race after Esteban Ocon suffered a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Lewis Hamilton.
"Today was a race in which anything could happen, but actually it was quite a clean and straightforward race for me," said Sebastian.
Given the way the race developed, I do not think we could have finished any higher.
"We managed to pick up a point, which was a good effort because it is always difficult to make progress at Monaco, especially with only one dry line.
"Given the way the race developed, I do not think we could have finished any higher.
"It was a real struggle on the Wet tyres in the early laps so that is why we went to the Intermediate as soon as we could.
"We learned more about the car, too, optimising the set-up with the new parts we introduced recently.
"All these steps are taking us in a good direction for the races to come."
Lance
After the delayed start, an early puncture led to Lance pitting for new tyres on the opening lap before returning a lap later for a bold move onto the Intermediate compound.
Lance's bid to make up places was affected by Monaco's narrowness and traffic caused by the Haas and Williams ahead.
But Lance persevered and overtook Mick Schumacher on lap 18, returning consistent track times despite the changing weather.
Either side of the red flag following Schumacher's crash, Lance utilised the durable Hard tyre.
A strong final stint secured Lance a 14th place finish, which although didn't result in a championship point, had Lance optimistic about the AMR22's development.
It was always going to be a tricky race in the wet weather, but there are positives to take.
"I knew it would be a struggle to score points when starting so far back and it was always going to be a tricky race in the wet weather, but there are positives to take.
"We made the right call by switching to the Intermediate tyres early on because it was clearly the best compound.
"Overtaking is difficult at Monaco, so getting past [Yuki] Tsunoda at Rascasse was a pleasing move and showed that the car is becoming more competitive - especially considering the slower-speed corners here.
"On the whole, the race gave us plenty of opportunities to continue learning about the car's recent developments.
"I am confident we will be able to develop the car for both the slower and faster circuits in the near future."
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