F1 News
'Vettel couldn't have seen Stroll coming' when rejoining track
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
In a time when Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has received a lot of criticism for recent performances, Ziggo Sport pit reporter Jack Plooij has stuck his neck out for the German, saying he couldn't have seen Lance Stroll coming when he collided with the Canadian during the Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel dropped it at the Ascari chicane in the opening stages of his team's home Grand Prix, riding the kerb and spinning out. However, when he rejoined the track, Stroll was charging at him at full speed. The 20-year-old took evasive action but the two still touched, with some calling for Vettel to be black-flagged for the instance.
The four-time champion got a ten-second stop-go penalty, the heaviest penalty without black-flagging someone.
Plooij, who has been reporting from the pitlane for Dutch F1 fans for two decades, thinks Vettel couldn't have seen Stroll coming.
"You're completely strapped to the car with your helmet because of the HANS device," he explained to Veronica.
"The device is on the back of your helmet, so you can barely look left or right. I think he wasn't really able to look left and that he was focussed on getting back on track. You could see his rear wheels spinning and suddenly he had grip again. Then you just storm back onto the track. It looked very clumsy."
In general, Plooij thinks the public's criticism on Vettel is just a by-product of his age, as he thinks it's natural for people to say you should clear out for younger talent when you're more of a veteran.
"You'll get those comments no matter what. They tell me I'm too old too, it's just the way it is. If you do something wrong or make a mistake, you'll get that waffle. Keyboard warriors who just say and shout whatever. Well, go right ahead!"