Penalty coming for Vettel in Austin

The four-time world champion will receive a new Mercedes engine, with the drop on the grid that comes with it.

Published on 21/10/2021 à 23:28

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Another difficult weekend ahead for the Aston Martin star / © DPPI

Sebastian Vettel readily admits: he is preparing for a “ difficult weekend " in the USA. The reason ? The grid penalty that awaits after the introduction of a new engine Mercedes its Aston Martin, as the quadruple world champion revealed this Thursday in Austin (Texas).

Vettel is not the first star-powered driver to exceed the annual quota of 3 internal combustion engines allocated to each driver. This was already the case for Valtteri Bottas in Italy and Russia, then Lewis Hamilton in Turkey.

In the clan of the German engine manufacturer, we have never hidden our concern regarding engine reliability as the season has entered its final third.

Winner at the Circuit of the Americas in 2013 with Red Bull, Vettel hopes to have the opportunity to use this new engine to move up the rankings.

« We can overtake here, he added. So I think this is a good place to make this change. I hope we have a fun Sunday and manage to get back into the fight ».

Currently 12th in the Drivers' standings with 35 points, 9 lengths ahead of his teammate Lance stroll, Vettel has only entered the Top 10 once. And again, it was during the non-Belgian GP (5th) at Spa-Francorchamps.