Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll climbed up the order in the 2021 French Grand Prix to deliver a double-points finish for Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team.
For the third race in a row, the team scored points in an ultra-close midfield battle, with the drivers' expert tyre management and the pitwall's clever strategy paying off once again.
Sebastian
Sebastian started in 12th and had the benefit of a free tyre choice, opting to go one step softer than the top 10 by beginning the Grand Prix on a set of Hards.
He would spend the opening lap in a back-and-forth battle with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi before securing 12th and immediately looking forward towards Esteban Ocon’s Alpine.
On the second lap, Sebastian was late on the brakes into the chicane at the end of the Mistral Straight, using his pace advantage to go around the outside of Ocon before switching back to the inside line for 11th.
French Grand Prix
Get the full story from Paul Ricard and go inside the midfield points battle. Dive into the facts and figures behind the French Grand Prix and hear from the four-time Sebastian, Lance and Otmar.
Despite Ocon threatening to dive down the inside at Signes, Sebastian closed the door and moved to the fringes of the points.
Crucially, Sebastian was the lead driver on the Hard tyres, putting him at the front of the queue on the alternate strategy.
By the 12th lap, Sebastian was into 10th on merit after hounding Ocon’s team-mate Fernando Alonso, eventually making a move stick on the inside of the Mistral Chicane.
"I think we had to do something different with the strategy today [by pitting late], and it worked out for us quite nicely with both cars inside the points," reflected Sebastian.
"Unfortunately, I went off the track in the first stint and lost a lot of time because I was just pushing a bit too hard."
Even without his error, it was clear Sebastian was firmly in points contention as higher than expected tyre degradation had rival teams considering a switch to a slower two-stop strategy.
Sebastian would cycle into fifth as other teams made their first pitstops, but the German showed no sign of stopping as he pumped in a series of personal best lap times on Hard tyres beyond the midpoint of the race.
A series of rapid laps preceded his switch from the Hard tyres to a set of used Mediums on lap 37, returning to the track in 11th.
We made the best of things, and it was a strong performance by the whole team with a competitive race pace.
Ferrari's decision to switch Charles Leclerc to a two-stop strategy then immediately lifted Sebastian back into the points.
Using his pace advantage on the lightly used Mediums, Sebastian swiftly made inroads on Carlos Sainz Jr ahead.
He lowered the gap from an initial seven seconds down to within DRS range in just seven laps, blasting past the Ferrari for his finishing position of ninth.
"Without that [first stint error], I would have been closer to the group of cars ahead and with fresher tyres at the end," said Sebastian.
"So maybe we could have finished a bit higher up if things had been perfect.
"It was hard to be consistent in such windy conditions, which were tricky for everybody to judge.
"But we made the best of things, and it was a strong performance by the whole team with a competitive race pace."
Lance
Lance began the Grand Prix on the alternate strategy of the Hard tyre, lining up 19th on the grid after Saturday's setback.
At the start, Lance made immediate progress to rise to 15th by the end of the second lap, dispatching all four of the Haas and Williams cars.
He spent the early phase of the race chasing Kimi Räikkönen, blasting past for 14th on the Mistral Straight, demonstrating his promising pace as rival teams complained of graining.
Lance continued to make moves on track ahead of the pitstop window, clearing Antonio Giovinazzi for 13th.
Towards the end of the race, a lot of drivers were struggling for grip, and we were able to take advantage to finish P10.
As the field began to pit, Lance moved closer to the Alpine of Ocon, looking to pass at Signes on lap 16.
Three laps later, Lance finally cleared Ocon to go sixth during a wave of pitstops. As team-mate Sebastian was ahead, both AMR21s were now the lead Hard runners and in the fight for points.
"Paul Ricard is normally a track with little overtaking, but I managed to make all of my passes on track," added Lance.
Lance would set a series of personal best lap times deep into the race in preparation for his switch to new Medium tyres, pitting on lap 34.
The Canadian returned to the track in 14th, and immediately battled Williams's George Russell, dispatching the Brit on lap 40 in the hunt for a top 10 finish.
"Towards the end of the race, a lot of drivers were struggling for grip, and we were able to take advantage to finish P10," said Lance.
"I was comfortable in the car, and we were able to extract some good pace."
Three laps later, Lance cleared the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda to set up a 10-lap dash to the flag against Sainz for the final point.
The gap was five seconds and a personal best lap time followed to lower it to 2.7s before moving into DRS range with just five laps remaining.
Lance's superior pace told, and he secured the position with four laps to go, resulting in a double-points finish for the team.
"It was a well-earned result, and a good strategy certainly helped," added Lance. "Getting both cars into the points is a decent result, especially because we started P19.
"We have made progress with our race pace, but we need to make further gains on Saturday to help continue our consistent points-scoring form."
All in. All welcome. All celebrated. Sign up to open up a world of I / AM benefits and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
