It was busy in the Aston Martin F1 garage during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The mechanics worked together like a well-oiled machine to get Sebastian Vettel’s car ready on time and this succeeded to the delight of the fans in the stands.
Vettel had a dramatic weekend as his Aston Martin failed every day and the German has not yet been able to drive many meters once back from his Covid-19 infection.
Charles Leclerc takes pole position F1 Grand Prix Australia in game for thousandths
Sebastian Vettel: “Today it’s about the team: the boys and girls have done a great job getting both cars on track for qualifying. They did such a good job getting Lance’s car ready and it was great to see the team spirit as both sides of the garage came together to get my car ready. Just going out to do a lap was already a huge achievement. P18 may not look great on paper, but today it was the result of a little magic. It’s not easy at the moment, but we know the car has more potential and we are working very hard as a team to make progress. I didn’t drive much this weekend so hopefully we can have a clean race tomorrow and learn more about the car.”
Lance Stroll: “Unfortunately it was a messy day. Above all, I would like to thank the team for their incredible hard work today. It wasn’t easy to get the car ready for qualifying, but they did it. However, it was a shame to have such an awkward incident with Nicholas [Latifi] in Q1. It happened at a narrow point of the track and I was following the bend to the right. When I went in, he accelerated at the last minute and made contact. It was a day to forget quickly, so we will regroup and come back tomorrow and try to take every opportunity that comes our way in the race.”
Mike Krack, Team Principal: “This weekend has not been going well for us so far – that much is clear – but sometimes racing is like that. So what I want to do today is pay tribute to both garage teams, who faced the monumental task of getting two damaged cars ready for qualifying in record time. And they did exactly that. Mechanics are the unsung heroes of Formula 1. Well done guys.”