It could have been a party for two, with his first career F1 points finish Mick Schumacher and the second consecutive top-10 for Sebastian Vettel, embellished by a splendid comeback following the controversial departure from the pit lane. Instead, the derby between the two great friends ended in an omelette with German sauce just a few laps from the end, with the four-time world champion retired and Schumacher falling to 15th position. The facts, first of all. The patatrac arrives on lap 54 of 57, when the two Germans are battling with Esteban Ocon’s Alpine for ninth, tenth and 11th position. Vettel is in front, but less fast, Schumacher behind with more pace. The son of art attempts the attack in turn 1, but Seb closes the door and the inevitable collision is reached. The FIA, perhaps a bit surprising, after the race absolves all: “The commissioners reviewed the video evidence and concluded that both pilots contributed to the collision and neither were wholly or predominantly guilty.“, The official explanation of the Race Direction.
By radio, immediately after the impact, Schumacher explicitly said that he was suddenly shut down by Vettel. After the race, however, the # 47 of the Haas partially mitigated his conclusions: “It’s hard to judge from inside the car, so I’ll wait to see the crash from the outside – commented to the microphones of Sky Sports F1 – I’m sure I want to understand what Seb thinks. We have to go and restart from here. It all started from before, with Esteban. This was an unfortunate episode. Returning to the top positions starting 15th was very positive, but unfortunately I was unable to materialize“. Vettel also refrained from giving blame, simply saying he regretted the contact with his compatriot and friend of him: “I’m disappointed for me and for Mick. The two of us have lost a good opportunity to score points today. I did not expect [l’attacco]. I need to take another look [all’incidente]. When I saw it it was too late and we got in touch “the rather dry analysis of the Aston Martin driver.
The one who has no doubts about the responsibilities of the contact is the Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack, who criticized Schumacher quite clearly for what happened. “Unfortunately for Seb it all ended without his fault. It was the result of an accident with one Schumacher too ambitious. Sebastian was 11th on the new Averages, just behind Ocon on older Sofs and Schumacher on old Hards. Sebastian was making good use of that advantage to stay ahead of both of them and was in ninth position. He was earning some precious points for the championship “.
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