Vettel 'wasn't in control' in Barcelona crash

Sebastian Vettel says he lost all control as a result of an issue at the front-left of his car when he crashed into the barriers on the morning of the second day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona. Vettel's Ferrari sustained seemingly hefty damage from a trip across the gravel at turn three.

The German was passed fit after a precautionary trip to the medical centre, but the SF90 was in worse shape, reportedly suffering front wing and front suspension damage.

It ended Vettel's running on Wednesday, but also ensured that Charles Leclerc's programme in the afternoon would be impacted – a first setback for a Ferrari team pegged as the outright quickest from pre-season so far.

Although Vettel could not pinpoint the exact reason for his crash, he offered his view from the cockpit.

"We don't know much more than everyone knows," Vettel told assembled media in Barcelona.

We are foreseeing the car won’t go out on track for a few hours. #SF90 #F1Testing #essereFerrari — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 27, 2019

"Inside the car, I was going into turn three and then, by the feeling, there was an issue with the front left corner and from there, there wasn't anything I could have done to avoid the impact.

"I wasn't in control anymore and went more or less straight into the barriers.

"We are flat out trying to understand, obviously it would be a lot easier if there was a lot of run-off and the car didn't hit anything right after because now, you can imagine, obviously it's fairly damaged due to the hit.

"So we have to be careful understanding what exactly is the problem and that's what everybody is looking at here at the track and at Maranello. It's important to us."

Vettel admitted any investigations would be affected by the level of damage done to the car.

"I hit the wall quite strongly," he said. "I think the wall did its job. The car did its job.

"Of course, after the impact the car was pretty damaged so that also makes it difficult to reconstruct what was going on before the impact."

MORE: Vettel crashes in Barcelona test
MORE: Sirotkin ‘feels really sorry’ for struggling Williams