Sebastian Vettel is on course to equal his lowliest position in the Formula 1 standings after a pit stop shambles condemned him to point-less result at Imola.
Ferrari has struggled for overall performance in 2020 while Vettel has lacked pace compared to team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Vettel ran a long first stint at Imola and was poised to move into the points but a slow pit stop relegated him down the order.
He was classified in 12th position, benefiting from a five-second time penalty for Romain Grosjean, but Ferrari estimated eighth was likely without the slow stop.
Vettel’s result, allied with fourth for Daniil Kvyat, meant the four-time World Champion slipped behind the AlphaTauri and into 14th in the championship.
He has not finished so low in the standings since his rookie season in 2007, in which he finished 14th overall, despite contesting only eight of the 17 events.
“We started on the Medium, which was the right thing to do as it was still working very well, even after a good amount of laps,” said Vettel.
“The pace was good in the first stint, then we lost time in the pit-stop, which is a shame.
“We tried to come back with the Soft tyre at the end, but it was very difficult to make progress in a train of cars.
“This is clearly not the result we wanted and for sure not the one we would have deserved.
“I was comfortable in the car even if this year the problem is more severe in qualifying, where I struggle to get a feel for the car.
“We have to remain patient and continue to make gradual progress, as we have been doing, given that we missed Q3 by just two tenths.
“If we can start from a bit higher up the grid, the next races could bring us better results.”
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