Vettel’s first appearance at the 2022 F1 Championship came to an early halt after his Aston Martin suffered a breakdown at Albert Park
Sebastian Vettel could complete only 18 laps during the first practice session in Melbourne. The German registered a timing of 1:21.661 which put him in the 13th spot in the grid after FP1.
Vettel rushed to the sidelines to get hold of a fire extinguisher to put off the fire himself after his car’s engine started to emit smoke as a result of the breakdown. The breakdown was the second red flag of the day and caused the session to be stopped with a piece of debris from Perez’s car bringing out the red flags earlier in the day.
With 14 minutes remaining on the clock, Sebastian Vettel parked his AMR22 on the side of the track reporting an engine problem at Turn 12 with smoke coming out from the rear of the car. The Aston Martin car was removed from the track pretty soon and the session was red-flagged. The session resumed after a while with 10 minutes of running still available.
Sebastian Vettel missed the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after testing positive for Covid-19. In Vettel’s absence, Nico Hulkenberg drove for the Aston Martin F1 team in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Although it wasn’t an ideal start for the German, Vettel is the most successful driver at Albert Park among those on the starting grid and this is certainly a major confidence booster for him ahead of the race on Sunday.
Sebastian Vettel has won the Australian Grand Prix three times in the past – 2011, 2017, and 2018. The 4-time World Champion would be aiming to make a grand comeback by finishing on the podium in Melbourne. Vettel is on the verge of a career milestone – If the German finishes on the podium on Sunday, it will be his 100th career podium.
It will be an uphill task for Vettel to make a podium finish. He is certainly going to face a steep challenge from the likes of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Lewis Hamilton.
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