Monaco GP: Post-Practice comments from Vettel and Aston Martin

Monaco Grand Prix is back on the calendar for 2021 season after an enforced absence in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic that broke a consecutive streak of over 60 Grands Prix.

Aston Martin coming to famous street circuit back of a consecutive score less races and Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel yet to score a point with the team. But Monaco offers great opportunity to stop the bad streak and score some valuable points for both team and Sebastian.

Monaco is the one track where experience makes lot of difference and confidence in the car also help drivers to extract maximum out of the package. But AMR21’s lack of rear end grip might cost them dearly to score any points in the tight midfield battle.

Aston Martin had a solid Thursday Free Practice, team was able to complete 118 laps combining two sessions, that’s lot of data to analyze before crucial Saturday Qualifying session.

Theoretically Monaco is one of the toughest tracks to make overtakes during race, so Qualifying will play a critical role to maximize the chances of scoring points on Sunday.

Sebastian set his best time of the morning session in 1.13.732, while Lance left it late in the session to improve his best to 1.14.090. Sebastian ended free practice one in eighth while Lance finished 11th.

Vettel set his fastest time, a 1.12.982 effort on Mediums, with just under half the session remaining to secure 10th on the timesheets. His session was then affected by something getting stuck in his eye, but Sebastian was able to push on with his run plan.

Lance would lap just over three tenths off Sebastian’s best to post a 1.13.195, sealing 13th. Both drivers completed 59 laps each for the day.

Sebastian Vettel: 

“I think everybody is happy to be back here at this special track and it is great to see fans in the grandstands, even though the numbers are still limited.

“The morning session went well, and I got into a rhythm quickly, but the afternoon was more complicated because I got something in my eye, which was quite uncomfortable and caused my eye to tear up.

“As usual, it is very close in the midfield, which means getting everything perfect on Saturday afternoon, and being lucky with the traffic, is what matters.

“I feel happy with the work we did today and if we can get everything together over the weekend, we can hopefully be near the front of the midfield group.”

Lance Stroll: 

“It is great to be back here in Monaco, especially after the race did not take place last year. I had a lot of fun out there today – building up speed and getting close to the walls.

“It was very busy on track, with a lot of traffic, and not easy to find free air, which is always a major factor on Saturday and Sunday, too. The sessions went smoothly, giving us lots of information and things to improve before final practice.

“There is a chance to catch our breath tomorrow with a quiet day, but we still have some engineering meetings to see what ideas we can come up with ahead of qualifying.”