British GP : Post-Sprint Qualifying reaction from Vettel and Stroll

Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team had a decent F1 Sprint qualifying on Saturday, team gained a net three places from Friday’s qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Sebastian Vettel will start the 2021 British Grand Prix from eighth after a battling performance in the first-ever Formula One Sprint as team-mate Lance Stroll progressed to earn 14th on the grid.

Sebastian kept his wits about him starting from 10th on the grid as the midfield converged through the opening corners. The German was very cautious to avoid any contact on the Wellington Straight when George Russell and Carlos Sainz Jr tangled in first lap.

Lance was able to make a decent start to move up to 14th as a result of the midfield clash between Russell and Sainz. He spent the early phases of the race attempting to keep the recovering Ferrari behind him.

But the compacted midfield made it difficult to make further progress, and Lance secured 14th for tomorrow’s race.

Unfortunately Vettel was summoned to British GP race stewards for allegedly failing to follow the race director’s instructions for the practice start procedure at the end of FP2.

Sebastian Vettel (P8)

“I have enjoyed this unusual weekend format so far. It was interesting to have the intense moment yesterday evening followed by the Sprint today, which can go either way.

For us, it went well and we gained some places for the race tomorrow, and some others lost ground. Fernando [Alonso] made up a lot of places on lap one, starting on the Soft tyres, and I thought he would struggle more in the final laps.

I was close behind him, but could not make the move to overtake. This result puts us in a decent starting position for tomorrow [P8], which will be a very different race with the strategy options.”

Lance Stroll (P14)

“It was good to make up a little bit of ground in the Sprint, but I think we are still searching for the optimal car balance.

It was challenging to make up any further places as the midfield bunched up and we ended up in a long train of cars. The positive is that the short race gives us more relevant data to go over and look to find the improvements we need.

It is a long race tomorrow; anything can happen, plus the heat will be a factor, as well as the free choice of tyres, so I am looking forward to coming back stronger tomorrow.”