It was expected, the confirmation fell this Friday morning a few hours before the first free practice of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Thursday, Aston Martin had indeed already confirmed that Sebastian Vettel’s Covid tests were still positive, but the team wanted to believe in a last minute change which would have allowed the quadruple world champion to finally start his season.
Already replaced at short notice by Nico Hülkenberg during the opening round last week in Bahrain, a race marked by the Ferrari double and the zero point of Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel will therefore still have to take his troubles patiently. Indeed, Aston Martin has therefore announced this Friday: “Nico Hülkenberg will drive in free practice, in qualifying and in the race alongside Lance Stroll. (…) Despite a lack of running with the AMR22, Nico behaved well in Bahrain and we are sure that he will do the same in Jeddah.
A choice necessarily a little by default, even if it is precisely the role of the reserve pilot to come and compensate for a package. And it’s obviously all good for him who certainly didn’t expect to do two Grands Prix in a row this season. Only 17th in the first race, Hülkenberg suffered at the end of the race, Lance Stroll finishing in 12th place. There is no doubt that he will be keen to take advantage of his experience at Sakhir to make the most of his single-seater.