Sensor issue hampered Vettel's pace at Brazil GP

Sebastian Vettel's race at Interlagos was hampered by a sensor issue that caused his pace to drop during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Vettel crossed the line in sixth place, behind the two Mercedes', Red Bulls and teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Before the race got underway, Vettel was hit with the problem when he tried to pull away on the formation lap. The car didn't get away well, forcing him to make up a number of positions to reclaim his second place starting slot.

“Right from the formation lap, we became aware of a problem with a sensor on Seb’s car,” said team principal Maurizio Arivabene. “This meant that for the whole race he had to run different settings to those we would have normally used and that made the car difficult to drive.”

Adding to his woes, Vettel says that the team's tyre strategy wasn't favourable. The Scuderia outfit started on the soft tyres which failed to help in the long distance. After switching to the medium compound, Vettel couldn't mount a challenge.

"I don’t think it was an advantage today to start with the tyres that we had,” said Vettel. “We thought it was, it turned out not to be the case. [We] struggled to get the tyres to work properly and [were] sliding quite a bit so not a good race.”

"I thought [our tyres] were OK straight away but they were just not fast enough in comparison. The super-soft didn’t struggle enough, let’s put it that way. You could see that they had maybe two or three laps where they would get some pain, where I thought now we are quids in. After that, they were fast before and fast after that phase.

“The super soft was fast, faster arguably, and they lasted also long enough. I don’t think before the race anybody thought that super-soft/soft strategy was feasible but it was actually not a problem.”

How many rocket failures have there been on even bigger budgets? Shit happens.

  • 1
  • Nov 13 2018 - 05:14

Replies (6)

Login to reply
  • Sure it wasnt the loose thing between Vet's legs that weighed him down?

    • + 0
    • Nov 12 2018 - 11:50
    • f1dave

      Posts: 782

      More like something loose in between his ears.

      • + 0
      • Nov 12 2018 - 17:20
    • Its Vettel we talk about, not Ocon. ;)

      • + 0
      • Nov 12 2018 - 17:57
  • RogerF1

    Posts: 501

    On a budget of £400M and it comes down to a sensor !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • + 0
    • Nov 13 2018 - 00:36
    • How many rocket failures have there been on even bigger budgets? Shit happens.

      • + 1
      • Nov 13 2018 - 05:14
  • Which of these double-sensor, that Ferrari keeps in huge secret, has been issued, left or right?

    • + 0
    • Nov 13 2018 - 08:37

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia
21 - Mar 23 2025
China
4 - Apr 6 2025
Japan
11 - Apr 13 2025
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America
16 - May 18 2025
Italy
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco
30 - Jun 1 2025
Spain
13 - Jun 15 2025
Canada
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27 2025
Belgium
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5 2025
Singapore
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America
24 - Oct 26 2025
Mexico
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America
28 - Nov 30 2025
Qatar
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23 2025
4 - Apr 6 2025
11 - Apr 13 2025
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18 2025
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1 2025
13 - Jun 15 2025
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27 2025
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5 2025
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26 2025
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30 2025
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 1,480
  • Podiums 56
  • Grand Prix 161
  • Country DE
  • Date of b. Jul 3 1987 (38)
  • Place of b. Heppenheim, DE
  • Weight 62 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar