Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided on the opening lap of the Styrian Grand Prix, forcing both out of the race.
Ferrari has endured a tough weekend so far in Austria, hosting its second F1 race in two weeks, and it unraveled even further in the opening moments of the race. Leclerc tried an optimistic move on the inside of Turn 3, at the top of the hill, and ended up sliding into Vettel’s car.
After the contact, Vettel opened his radio channel to say: “”I don’t know what that was. I was taking it easy into turn three and then someone went completely up the inside.”
The impact left Vettel with a smashed rear wing, while Leclerc also needed to pit for a replacement front wing. The scattered debris briefly prompted a Safety Car to be deployed.
A few laps later, Leclerc pitted to retire his damaged car.
The Italian team had been hoping to analyse the car upgrades it fast-tracked for introduction this weekend, having originally planned to run them at next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
More to follow…