Sebastian Vettel has been the biggest victim of slow pitstops in the 2020 season. His race was again negatively impacted by a slow pitstop at the Sakhir GP which meant that he again didn't finish in a points scoring position. 2020 has been the worst season in the career of the 4-time world champion. Vettel had an unfortunate 13.1-second pitstop at the race in Imola which ruined his race. Then again in Bahrain for the two races, he had pitstops of 4.5 and 6.5 seconds respectively where the average stationary time is in the race of 2.8 seconds for most teams. As he prepares for his last race for Ferrari in Abu Dhabi, the German reflected on the situation with pitstops at Ferrari. The former world champion revealed that the crew was top class, but the machinery they were working with perhaps wasn't.
The four-time world champion moves to Racing Point in 2021 which gets the Aston Martin branding
"It's tough enough for the guys, so I feel sorry for them," said Vettel of his mechanics. "[The equipment] probably needs an overhaul on the design because it's not the guys' fault," revealed the 33-year-old. Vettel finished P12 but his race was looking bleak before the botched pitstop. His replacement engine which was installed in FP3 had left him down on power which resulted in him not making Q3. His teammate, Charles Leclerc again out-qualified him in P4.
My race was a bit irrelevant," Vettel chuckled. "We were quite slow from the start. I couldn't go with the people ahead and be in the mix, I was not really gaining anything on the straights, even with the tow and DRS... I felt like I was a bit down on power, I don't know if the engine change yesterday had an impact on that... So I was just on the defence the whole race and couldn't benefit with the soft tyres at the end. So obviously the pit stops didn't make a huge difference," said the German.
Sergio Perez Won His Maiden Race In The Racing Point At Sakhir
Photo Credit: AFP
Things for him, however, are looking up as the team he is moving to won their first race in F1. Racing Point's Sergio Perez whom Vettel replaces in 2021 scored his maiden victory in F1 at the Sakhir GP.
"For sure [Racing Point are] strong, and I'm looking forward to it. But for now, I'm willing to finish this chapter, even if it seems quite painful. But I tried what I could today and it was really difficult," he added.
