Even in the last free run before qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Sebastian Vettel has no luck in his Aston Martin. On the other hand, another surprises.
The comeback in the Formula 1 cockpit continues to be desolate for Sebastian Vettel. In the final practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, the four-time world champion lost control of his Aston Martin and hit the barriers in the chicane on the back straight. The session ended prematurely for him. The left front suspension on the car was severely damaged. It was initially unclear whether Vettel would be able to compete in qualifying. Later, his teammate Lance Stroll also ended up in the gravel bed.
After the botched start, Vettel actually had a lot of catching up to do before qualifying (08:00 a.m. CEST/Sky). In the first practice session on Friday he had to park his car prematurely due to engine problems, and he missed the second practice session due to the defect. At the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Vettel had previously failed due to a corona infection.
Hamilton knocked off again
Vettel’s accident caused a ten-minute break in the third practice session in Melbourne on Saturday. Surprisingly, Lando Norris in the McLaren (1:19.117 minutes) set the best time. World championship leader Charles Leclerc (+ 0.132 minutes) finished second in the Ferrari.
World champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull missed the opportunity for a last fast lap after the Stroll accident and finished seventh (+ 0.692) ahead of record champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes (+ 0.779). Haas driver Mick Schumacher (+ 1.575) took 14th place.
There was one change to the completely revamped course in Albert Park. One of the DRS zones on the long back straight was deleted for safety reasons, the zone before turn nine is affected. This reduced the number of DRS zones to three.