Vettel explains Stroll collision

Sebastian Vettel says he was unable to see Lance Stroll coming, having picked up a race-wrecking penalty for clipping the Racing Point while trying to recover from a spin in the Italian Grand Prix.

Running in fourth place, Vettel spun unchallenged as he went through Monza's Ascari Chicane – a second driving error in Ferrari's home race in as many years.

In Vettel's rush to get going once again, he stumbled onto the track and made contact with Stroll, who was spun to the exit of the chicane, and was then guilty of a similar incident which impacted Pierre Gasly.

Vettel was given a 10-second stop-go penalty and finished 13th, completing a miserable outing personally that contrasted greatly with Ferrari's race as Charles Leclerc secured the team's first Monza win since 2010.

View this post on Instagram

The moment Seb’s Monza dreams turned into a nightmare ? . #F1 #Formula1 #ItalianGP #Vettel #Ferrari

A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1) on Sep 8, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

Vettel had little complaint about his penalty, but explained the reasoning behind his seemingly clumsy manoeuvre.

"When I spun I was looking the other way, I saw there was quite a bit of a gap," Vettel said.

"Obviously then you don't start counting. I knew there would be cars coming, but originally I thought I would be much quicker re-joining. That took obviously a lot longer.

"Coming back I knew that there will be a gap, but I struggled a little bit to get out, I think I was stuck on the grass. I lost a bit of momentum there, it took a bit longer.

"So certainly not ideal, but I couldn't see anything to the left.

"It is compromised because we have the high cockpit, but I don't think it's an option to drop that."

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

When Lewis Hamilton last won an F1 race as the long wait continues for Ferrari megastar

• Today 00:20

How US F1 fans can watch 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix for FREE

• Yesterday 23:45

F1 star Lando Norris' girlfriend Magui Corceiro addresses 'fake relationship' claim

• Yesterday 22:44

F1 News Today: Monaco Grand Prix result could change AGAIN as Mercedes call in lawyers

• Yesterday 22:35

Mercedes blows up on last lap to hand Ferrari an unlikely F1 Barcelona win

• Yesterday 21:58

Max Verstappen promoted after late disqualification announced

• Yesterday 20:58