Vettel out in Q1 with Ferrari issue at German GP

Sebastian Vettel will start the German Grand Prix from the back of the grid after suffering a suspected turbo issue with his Ferrari during Q1 meaning he failed to set a lap time.

The German driver reported a loss of power immediately after heading out of the pits at the start of the session and duly returned to the Ferrari garage without setting a lap time.

Despite frantic work by Vettel’s mechanics aiming to fix his SF90 during the session, it quickly became clear he would not be able to continue in Q1 which has left him last in the qualifying classification for his home race. Ferrari later confirmed the problem was with the airflow to the turbo in the power unit.

The mechanical issue will come as a cruel blow to Vettel having shown impressive pace in practice as he hoped to make amends for crashing into Red Bull’s Max Verstappen last time out at the British Grand Prix.

It marks the second time Vettel has suffered an engine-related issue during qualifying in the space of three races. Vettel was unable to set a lap time in Q3 at the Austrian Grand Prix last month.

For further accuracy, the problem with #Seb5’s #SF90 was with the airflow to turbo. #GermanGP #Quali

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 27, 2019