VETTEL PITSTOP WAS UNACCEPTABLE

The Sebastian Vettel pitstop was unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t on course for anything more than a handful of points and that his initial strategy was clearly the right one – a team of Ferrari’s stature and resources cannot have 13-second pitstops.

What was the last time you saw Mercedes do a casual pitstop in the double digits of seconds? What about Red Bull? These are the teams Ferrari wants to be fighting and has the resources to be fighting, and they make operational mistakes – but it is virtually undeniable that Ferrari makes a lot more.

Sebastian Vettel rued Ferrari’s “very bad stop” during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that cost the four-time Formula 1 champion a rare points finish this season.

Vettel was running fourth at Imola after opting for a long opening stint on the medium compound tyres before finally switching to a set of hards after 39 laps.

A normal stop would have pitched Vettel into the fight for the minor points, but the change took 13 seconds and relegated him towards the back of the pack.

Vettel eventually finished 12th and has now scored just two points from his last seven races to leave him languishing in 14th in the drivers’ standings.

“I realised that it was a very bad stop and it would probably cost us our race,” the Aston Martin-bound driver said. “But you’re still in the race so you never know what’s happening after.”

Vettel and Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto agreed if it had been a routine change of tyres he would have rejoined ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris in 10th rather than 14th. The British driver finished eighth.

“I was staying out long on the medium,” the 33-year-old continued. “I was asking how many positions we were going to lose by staying out. We were obviously fighting with Norris.

“I didn’t know at the time how many cars there were around, and I think I would’ve been ahead of Norris who was 10th at the time, and then I don’t know from there.

“Probably we would’ve stayed out. There was no point for us to pit under the safety car in the end because I was anyway staying on a fresh set of hards.”

VETTEL PITSTOP WAS UNACCEPTABLE VETTEL PITSTOP WAS UNACCEPTABLE

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