Sebastian Vettel admits it’s very likely he’ll skip qualifying for the United States Grand Prix and start from the pit lane because of the power unit regulations.
The Red Bull driver is currently on his fifth internal combustion engine and is likely to replace the entire unit and hybrid systems. Should he do so, the regulations stipulate that he must start from the pits.
“I think it’s to be confirmed, but, yes, we have to [use an] extra engine at some stage this year and very likely at this event here,” he explained.
“Obviously we had quite a bad first half of the season in terms of reliability, with a lot of things happening, and that put us in that position. Practice we will definitely run to try to maximise the track time, but more focus towards the race because qualifying fast is not that important if it comes down to Sunday when we start from the pit lane due to the regulations.
“Of course we would like to do more but as I said we will use practice and see where we are and go from there. The rules are pretty clear, once you decide to play the joker and take a sixth part, a sixth engine, sixth turbo etc. – all the pieces – you have to start from the pit lane. Even if you qualify on pole you have to start from the pit lane, so that’s why instead of burning mileage in qualifying which you may then regret later on in Brazil or Abu Dhabi, where we might not see the finish line, that would be a lot more costly than deciding here not to qualify.”
Austin circuit’s co-founder Bobby Epstein called the decision a “shame”, but Vettel says it’s a necessary move to ensure they can make it to the end of the season on just six units.
“You can talk about obligations but in the end we have to manage the situation with the engines. The rules are the same for everyone, obviously it was our fault being very greedy at the beginning of the season; I had a lot of issues in terms of reliability, taking the engines to the end of their lives.”
