Vettel under investigation for scooter ride after FP1

Sebastian Vettel is under investigation by the Australian Grand Prix stewards for riding a scooter back to the pits at the end of Friday's first practice at Albert Park.

It was an inauspicious start for Vettel who kicks off his season in earnest this weekend after missing the first two races of the year due to testing positive for Covid.

The Aston Martin driver's FP1 session came to a premature end with 15 minutes left on the clock when he was forced to halt his car out on the track at Turn 10, with smoke coming out of the rear of the German's AMR22.

• Australian GP Free Practice 1 - Results

The session was briefly red flagged as the Aston Martin ws pushed out of harm's way while Vettel waited for FP1 to conclude.

He then hopped on a scooter to make his way back to the pitlane, much to the pleasure of the local fans who waved at the four-time world champion who gladly returned the courtesy.

However, Vettel's improvised ride out on the track was frowned upon by the stewards, with the action seen as a potential breach of F1's sporting regulations.

Article 26.7 of F1's sporting rules states that no one is allowed on-track in the five minutes after a practice session except for "marshals, or other authorised personnel, in the execution of their duty".

But Vettel won't be the only driver visiting the stewards' office ahead of FP2, with pacesetter Carlos Sainz also summoned for an alleged blocking incident involving Alfa's Guanyu Zhou Guanyu.

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