Sebastian Vettel isn’t having a great debut with Aston Martin F1. The German driver’s Sunday was already off to a bad start when news broke that he would start at the back of the grid due to ignoring a double yellow flag in Q1. Although Vettel recovered to a decent extent in the race, it was all for naught after a tangle with Esteban Ocon on lap 46 virtually ended any faint chance of getting a point.

The incident occurred late in the race as soon as Ocon had made a pass on the German on the starting straight, heading into Turn 1. Ocon took advantage of the DRS and went past Sebastian. However, the four-time world champions came in hot, locked the tires, and went into the back of Esteban’s Alpine.

The resulting collision wasn’t drastic. However, it did send Ocon into a spin while Vettel himself stopped for a while; the latter also took damage to his front wing.

Vettel was heard on the team radio complaining about the fact that Ocon changed his racing lines. However, on closer inspection, it looked as though the Aston Martin man was at fault.

And the FIA eventually confirmed that suspicion. They slapped Sebastian with a ten-second time penalty.

As the checkered flag was waved, Vettel crossed the line in a lowly 15th place finish. He only managed to finish ahead of debutant Mick Schumacher.

Clearly not the weekend he would have wanted, but some pundits saw this coming.

Sebastian Vettel wasn’t the only Aston Martin driver who disappointed

The German’s teammate Lance Stroll managed to achieve a solitary point. However, that wouldn’t have been what Aston Martin would have wanted from a much-hyped season.

The Silverstone-based outfit were tipped to finish as the ‘best of the rest.’ But if that race is anything to go by, Aston Martin could be in for a long season.

Nevertheless, it is still early days. Perhaps with a better performance in qualifying and some better luck on the track, they could still put their name up in lights.

However, that was no doubt an amazing F1 race in Bahrain. The season opener delivered on all fronts with multiple intense battles all throughout the field. If this is any indication of how the rest of the season might be, then oh boy! We can’t wait for more.

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