Sebastian Vettel says he and Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll will discuss their close call during Saturday’s 2022 Brazilian GP Sprint Race that nearly saw the two come together.
The German finished ninth after starting 13th, but his race nearly came to an early end when trying to pass the Canadian.
Stroll squeezed his teammate off the track in the run down to Turn 4, with Vettel forced to go onto the grass. The Canadian was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident, but Vettel didn’t appear angry when speaking after the race.
“I think it was marginal,” Vettel told reporters. “Obviously I wanted to go down the inside and the gap closed, and then I was halfway off the track. It was difficult to recover.
“I think we will talk about it and then we’ll be fine. Obviously we lost a bit of time, both of us, and after I think I was a bit quicker and was able to catch the other cars ahead.”
Vettel made his way through the field
After making little progress early on Vettel managed to make his way through the field, even passing the likes of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
“I was a bit stuck and then had a good couple of opening laps with Daniel [Ricciardo], that was a lot of fun,” said Vettel.
“After, it was a bit close with Lance, but I think in the end we worked together and, you know, I think it’s always tough.
“You lose time when you’re fighting, but I seemed to be stronger, and then I was able to pass Esteban [Ocon] fairly comfortably and even catch Pierre in the distance, and yeah, with a couple more laps, I think we could have overtaken Kevin [Magnussen] as well.”
Stroll admits to Interlagos struggles
As for Stroll, the Canadian had to settle for a disappointing 17th place finish, and he admits things just haven’t clicked for him in Brazil.
“I have to look at it again, probably I didn’t leave him enough space, so I’ll have to look,” said Stroll. “I’ve just struggling all weekend.”
