Sebastian Vettel: Run of triple headers not behind chaotic F1 races
Sebastian Vettel does not believe a relentless run of races in the 2020 Formula 1 season has 🌳had any impact on the number of accidents seen in the last two rounds.
F1 has just completed nine races in the space of 11 weeks - consisting of three triple-header events – in order to get its delayed♎ 2020 season off the ground and hit the required number of races needed to valid𒊎ate a world championship campaign following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Major incidents resulted in this year’s Italian and Tuscan Grands Prix both being suspended, marking the first time since 2011 that back-to-back races have been stopped. Since the start💃 of the V6 hybrid era in 2014, just eight of the 130 races have been red flagged.
F1’s first-ever competitive visit to Mugello proved to be a dramatic, incident-filled affair as the race was halted o𓃲n two occasions for separate crashes.
Despite a rise in accidents across the past two events, Vettel, who himself was caught up in the opening lap melee in Mugello as 𓃲🐭he tangled with McLaren's Carlos Sainz, has dismissed the notion that fatigue at the end of a long stretch of races has played a role in the increase in drama.
“I think it’s certainly tough, but I think the chances to have a🍸 red flag and various red flags in a race is generally quite low, so I don’t think𓃲 it’s due to that,” the four-time world champion said.
“Obviously, it was absolutely right to call for the red flag after Charl💝es crashed last week, and again here, so there was no other choice - I think in both cases it was the right action.
“I think everybody is on the limit and ﷺperforming on the limit, trying to do everything, but I don’t think the crashes or the red flags are a consequence of the fact that we have triple-header, triple-header, ▨triple-header.”
The remainder of the revised 2020 calendar is more evenly spaced out, with the final seven races takꦚing place across a three-month period.
Races in Russia, Germany and Turkey are standalone events, with only one back-to-back (Portugal and Imola) and one triple-header (Bജahrain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi) left to complete.
Lew♔is regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
