F1 | Austrian GP | Gasly takes blame for collision with Vettel, as the German states he "almost feels like there is a target on my car" after two incidents
Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel shared views on the incident that left the German out of chances for points and that gifted the French a time penalty at the Austrian GP.
Austria proved to be a challenge for the Formula 1 circus. With cases of blameworthy abuse on the stands and question remarks aimed at the FIA off-track behavior, the race at the Red Bull Ring showed to be a difficult pillow to swallow for some, as the pinnacle of motorsport gets closer to its summer-break recess of the year.
As Sebastian Vettel fights to make the upgrades and effort done in Aston Martin start to show up in the form of results and performance, the 35-year-old was struck by one of the worst weekends of his season as an incident with Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri left the Aston Martin driver with no chances of fighting.
Pierre Gasly 💥 Sebastian Vettel
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 11, 2022
An unfortunate moment of contact between the two drivers that saw Seb venture into the gravel 😫#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fja7TDroid
The accident between Vettel and Gasly being the second one out of the two that made the German’s whole weekend in Austria a nightmare added to when Alex Albon was also involved in a similar incident with the #5 Aston Martin in Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying, made a frustrated Vettel comment after the race on Sunday: “Yes, it is… It is disappointing to be pushed into the gravel again. This time it was Gasly and it almost feels like there is a target on my car!”
“I think I was ahead, I didn’t know where he wanted to go. Obviously he wanted to stay with his nose ahead but he didn’t and, that was it.”
While the French driver expressed that he’s not happy fighting at the lower half of the grid after collecting a P15 in Austria, Pierre Gasly also took the blame for the incident that left the 4-time World Champion out of chances to fight for points positions, as the AlphaTauri driver was given a time-penalty regarding the action.
“I tried to fight as hard as I can. I took a penalty so yes, I’m the one to blame. At the same time, you know, when you are fighting side by side there’s always a risk. It wasn’t intentional, but very unfortunate for Sebastian.”
