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Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel to kick-off F1 season with grid drop and penalty points

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Mar 28, 2021, 07:06 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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The 33-year-old German joined Aston Martin to get back to winning ways after a disappointing stint with Ferrari. 

Sebastian Vettel is set to kick off his Formula One campaign with Aston Martin on Sunday, however, he will start from the back of the field after being handed a five-place grid drop and three penalty points at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

According to Stewards, Vettel failed to respect double yellow warning flags at turn one in Saturday's qualifying. Former Ferrari, who qualified at 18th was dropped to last due to the penalty. 

"He (Vettel) explained to the Stewards that he saw the smoke ahead of him, but was unsure if it was a lock-up or a stopped car until he was quite close to the car and the smoke was lifting," they added.

"The driver would have received a warning on his dash and the team should have been able to see that the sector had been a double yellow and could have advised the driver as other teams did.

"While the argument that the driver was already inside the sector when it went double yellow evokes sympathy, the Stewards feel it is important to note that he was approaching an incident visible ahead of him."

The 33-year-old German joined Aston Martin to get back to winning ways after a disappointing stint with Ferrari. 

(Inputs from Reuters)