Fernando Alonso Inches Closer to Sebastian Vettel in Race for Prestigious F1 Award After Turkish GP

Sebastian Vettel had a pretty miserable Turkish Grand Prix as he finished down in P18. The Aston Martin driver had started the race in P10 after qualifying P11 because of Hamilton’s penalty. He made a pretty good start but was overtaken by Lewis in the first few laps.

He hung on to the last points position for quite a while defending from Esteban Ocon. But he made a tire gamble and went on to medium tires on a greasy track. This backfired, and he had to pit again, which meant that he finished in P18 and a lap down.

But he still leads the stat for most overtakes by a driver in the 2021 season. But his former rival, Fernando Alonso, who is very close behind, follows him with 95 overtakes.

Seb remains in the lead of our overall overtake standings

But @alo_oficial is close behind!

Who will take P1 to claim the @cryptocom Overtake Award at the end of the season? #F1 | https://t.co/8PdPZlBesT pic.twitter.com/JXYtKGDs1y

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 12, 2021

The two-time world champion is just one overtake behind the four-time world champion. But Alonso too had a miserable Turkish GP, so he could not add to his tally.

Aston Martin commented on the stat and said, “Two legends, battling it out on track and in the @cryptocom overtake standings… … things we love to see.”

WATCH STORY: F1 Drivers on the Football Field Featuring Hamilton, Vettel & Schumacher

I knew it was the wrong decision: Sebastian Vettel

As reported by formula1.com, the 4-time world champion acknowledged the pit stop was a mistake. Vettel could have finished in points if he had changed the tires and put on another set of intermediate tires.

But his gamble proved costly and straight away after the pit stop, he could not generate the grid slid all across the track.

Motor racing – Formula One – Russian Grand Prix – Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia – September 24, 2021, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel arrives at the circuit REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

“As soon as I left the pits, I knew it was the wrong decision. There was no grip and I could not make them work… I was really surprised how slowly the track improved and it was similar to last year because it just did not dry out.” said Vettel.

“I wanted to try because there wasn’t much rubber left on the inters, so I thought the drys were not any different, or probably a little bit better because the grip is higher. But I couldn’t break the tire in and then couldn’t get any grip, so we lost the race today there,” concluded Seb.

The only positive from the race for Vettel is that he is still leading the grid with most overtakes. It would be interesting to see if he could finish the season and keep his lead.

Can Vettel finish as the driver with the most overtakes? Let us know.

READ MORE: Vettel quotes

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