Both the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team drivers failed to score points at the Mexico City Grand Prix, after a chaotic backup of traffic towards the back of the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
After racing in the United States the week before and showing competitive pace and further potential for Mexico, the AMR22 was more of a handful for four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, who fell short of the top ten by gaining only two places from qualifying, finishing in fourteenth position.
Like the other teams, the drivers were struggling with balancing the temperature of the car. Vettel seemed to be hanging on to the cars in front of him and remained in the midst of the traffic, until the driver had a fairly close encounter with Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda, as the driver emerged back on the track.
“Overall, we were just a little bit too slow today. At the start of the race, I could hold on to the cars in front of me, but then I was a bit unlucky to get tangled up with Yuki [Tsunoda].”
“His car was damaged, and he came back onto the track right in front of me – I lost too much time and was an easy target for the others. The car did not feel too great and the afternoon was a bit of a struggle – but, luckily, we did not lose too much ground in the fight for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.”
Aston Martin are currently seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with forty-nine points, just four points behind Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, who managed to score one point thanks to Valtteri Bottas finishing tenth.
Lance Stroll: “The start was great; it was definitely the highlight of the race”
Canadian team-mate Lance Stroll finished in fifteenth position, a significant improvement from the driver’s retirement in Austin, Texas at the previous race. Like Vettel, Stroll was strongest at the beginning of the race which was definitely the highlight of his performance. However, a close encounter with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly compromised his race and significantly affected the pace of the AMR22.
“The start was great; it was definitely the highlight of the race. On the move with Pierre [Gasly], he braked late, passed me but did not give me any room. However, it would not have really changed our day if that had not happened.”
After Vettel’s superb drive in Austin the previous week, the lack of pace shown by both drivers proved to be an unforeseeable problem for the Aston Martin garage. With two races left of the 2022 season, Stroll hopes the team will solve the pressing dilemma on the pace of the car and hope to improve on their performance for the remainder of the season.
“There were fun moments out there passing other cars, but we struggled a lot with our pace and the tyres. We will try to understand this dip in performance and see how we can make progress to maximise the final two races of the season.”
