It was a massively mixed Saturday afternoon for Aston Martin at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after Lance Stroll was slapped with a massive penalty after forcing Sebastian Vettel off the circuit.
Vettel made an excellent start to the sprint at Interlagos and found himself behind his team-mate, who he appeared to be faster than.
The four-time World Champion exited Turn Three brilliantly on the ninth lap which saw him try to pull to the left of his Canadian team-mate on the rundown to Turn Four.
However, Stroll dangerously swept to the left-hand side of the circuit to block Vettel, an act the FIA deemed as “deliberate”.
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Stroll’s erratic movement forced Vettel onto the grass at high speed.
The Canadian was awarded a 10-second time penalty which dropped him towards the bottom of the running order, after the 24-Lap sprint ended.
On top of the time penalty, Stroll was also awarded three penalty points, taking his overall total to 8/12, with 12 being needed for a race ban.
The FIA released the following statement regarding Stroll’s penalty.
“The stewards viewed video evidence and determined that Car 18 driven by Stroll deliberately drove to the left after Turn 3, driving car 5 off the road in a dangerous manner,” the stewards stated.
Vettel went on to finish the sprint in ninth, setting him up brilliantly for a potential points finish in the traditional race, something which is desperately needed in the team’s fight against Alfa Romeo for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Vettel admitted after the race that the incident with Stroll was “really tight” but that the pair managed to “work together” after their incident.
“It’s obviously split seconds, but I went to the inside and that got closed and it was really tight and I went off the track, which was difficult to recover,” Vettel told Sky Sports F1.
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“I was sort of stuck sitting on the plank, but fortunately I got back and after we were able to work together and I was able to use the pace that I had.
“It’s a fine line, you’re fighting for your spot and obviously it’s important to defend. On the other hand, it’s always trying to outweigh are you losing more than you gain? Plus, we are obviously trying to work together.
“So I think today in the end, we could have done better both of us to try and get a better positioning for both for the team, not losing that much time and then obviously finishing a little bit higher up.”