Sebastian Vettel has been fined 5,000 Euros for riding a scooter on circuit after a “painful” engine problem in Australian Grand Prix practice.
The Aston Martin driver came to a halt after the high-speed chicane during FP1, with ‘Fireman Seb’ being called into action again once he stepped out of the car.
Later, Vettel hopped on a marshal’s scooter and rode around Albert Park back to the pitlane but in doing so, breached the regulations as his entry to the circuit was unauthorised, resulting in the fine.
Sebastian Vettel has been fined 5,000 euros for “driving a scooter on the track within the five-minute window after the end of Free Practice 1” a breach of Article 28.7 of the Sporting Regulations. #F1 pic.twitter.com/TPR64v4tuC
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) April 8, 2022
Commenting on the failure, which also cost him the whole of FP2, Vettel said: “We had a problem, there was a bit of smoke, I lost power and we had to stop the car on the track.
I did the best I could to limit the damage and get it off the track as soon as possible.
“It stopped our running, which was painful and unfortunately cost us the whole session in the afternoon, which is not ideal. I haven’t been in the car for a while, plus the track is different. It will be fine tomorrow but it would have been nice to get more laps.”
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As Vettel noted this was his first time in the Aston Martin since the second pre-season test after missing the opening two races with Covid-19.
However, despite his lack of track time, the four-time world champion was soon back at home.
“It [the car] felt more or less where we left it in Bahrain,” he revealed.
“Obviously, some bits changed and a lot of work since then, but [also] a different track so it was a bit of both, getting myself back in the rhythm, getting used to the new layout here, the new tarmac.
“I don’t think it was a big problem to get back in the rhythm, I felt quite comfortable quite quickly.”