Sebastian Vettel was left to rue his bad luck after being sent spinning in two separate collisions during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
The German travelled to the Red Bull Ring hoping to build on the two points he managed at Silverstone a week earlier. But all that was in store for the Aston Martin racer was a return to the more familiar misery that he has endured for much of this season.
Qualifying was a disaster as he set the slowest time of all, but Saturday's Sprint started promisingly as the four-time world champion moved up to 14th on the opening lap. It will have given his team hope of a better starting place for the main event the following day.
But it wasn't to be, as he was clipped by the Williams being driven by Alex Albon. The Aston Martin was sent spinning into the gravel and Vettel did well to avoid getting beached and managing to return to the track, but by the time he did he was dead last again.
The race itself did not go much better. He picked up damage in the early stages as he ran over some debris while fighting with fellow veteran Fernando Alonso, and had worked his way up to 13th when disaster struck again, this time in the form of Pierre Gasly.
Vettel had tried to go around the outside at Turn 4 but met the same fate as Sergio Perez when he had tried a similar move on George Russell. Vettel was once again able to continue, but finished 17th – last out of the cars that completed the race.
Reflecting on that frustrating weekend, Vettel was frustrated about being denied the chance to fight for points through no fault of his own. "It is disappointing to be pushed into the gravel again," he said in the official Aston Martin debrief. "This time it was Gasly and it almost feels that there is a target on my car!
"I had made a good move on the outside and was ahead leaving plenty of space. I think he was just a bit too keen, ran into me, and I was off in the gravel. The car was not in the best shape after that and my race was pretty much done. Before that it was a tricky race because I was hit by some debris on the first lap, which may have damaged the car.
"We were not very competitive on the hard tyres at the start, but the medium was better and we were working our way through the field until the contact with Pierre. I think we have had quite an unlucky weekend so let's just turn the page and focus on the next race in France."
