Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll once collided during a cooldown lap in 2017
Sebastian Vettel was forced to abandon his car on track after the incident.
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Sebastian Vettel's SF70H
Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were teammates at the Aston Martin F1 team for two seasons. Vettel spent his final years in Formula alongside the Canadian driver and the pair dwelt well with one another. However, things weren’t always so friendly between the two. The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix became a confusing and frustrating encounter for future teammates.
During the 2017 Malaysian GP, Sebastian Vettel was on a charge to get back up the pecking order. Vettel was falling behind in the title fight against Lewis Hamilton and needed a decent result. the German made a stellar comeback to P4 in the race. Although, a rare instance followed suit. In the course of the cooldown lap back to the pits, Sebastian’s car collided with the Williams of Lance Stroll.
A rather embarrassing encounter for both drivers. Both drivers were approaching Turn 5 of the Sepang circuit and then disaster struck as the two made contact. Sebastian Vettel’s car suffered heavy damage and the German was forced to leave the Ferrari in the middle of the track. Although, Lance Stroll was able to make his way back to the pitlane. Certainly, one of the most bizarre collisions in recent F1 history.
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Sebastian Vettel was driven back to the pits by Pascal Wehrlein
After the incident, Sebastian Vettel decided to ditch the safety car in favor of Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber. As Vettel stopped his SF70H on track, Wehrlein pulled up beside the German and offered a lift. Subsequently, Sebastian rode on the Sauber C36 in an iconic manner. Certainly, this reminded fans of instances in the past when drivers hitched a ride on a rival’s car, such as Mark Webber’s taxi ride on Fernando Alonso‘s F138 in 2013.
On the crash, the stewards decided to not penalize either of the drivers. However, both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were furious after the incident. As the two blamed each other. The incident remains one of the stranger F1 crashes in recent times. Although, fans were not complaining after getting treated to the memorable, ‘Sa-UBER’ moment. Though, the teams were certainly unhappy with the extra repair bills.
Thus, this incident between Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll remains a peculiar one in the F1 history books. Drivers try to gain rubber on the tires and bring the cars home during a cooldown lap. Hence, a massive crash such as this one is certainly a mystery. Although, it seemed to be a bad judgement on part of the two drivers as they entered the corner. It is a relief that both Vettel and Stroll forgot about it in the time to come.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2431 Articles Published)