Vettel fears penalties at end of season

The misfortune continues Sebastian Vettel since the pilot Red Bull was unable to participate in the second practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps due to engine problems affecting in particular its exhausts. With only 11 laps covered during the first day of testing in the Belgian Ardennes, optimism is not in order for the four-time world champion. “It didn't help to gain experience. I definitely didn't ride much today. We saw that it was not the best track for us. We lack speed on the straights and they are rather long here. »

But the German's main concern concerns the penalties applied as soon as the sixth change of an element of the Power Unit is made during the season. A penalty of ten places on the grid will be imposed for each non-regulatory change and Sebastian Vettel has already reached the limit halfway through the season. “We will have to install another engine anyway (during the season). Six or seven, it will depend on the engine installed today. The penalty will be inevitable for us in the second part of the season anyway. It was a new engine and I hope it is not damaged. This is why we did not drive (this afternoon), in order to check everything in detail. It was obvious before today that we would have to change it before the end, the question is how many times. »

The final practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix will be contested tomorrow from 11 a.m. Photos of the tests can be viewed on this link.