Aston Martin Racing team principal Otmar Szafnauer was unable to fully explain the cause of the brake and gearbox issues that hampered the team during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

The newly rebranded team struggled with brake problems at Imola, with both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll reporting issues on the way to the grid, with Vettel starting from the pitlane as a consequence of the problem.

In the race itself, the team continued to struggle with brake issues before picking up gearbox problems on both cars, which caused Vettel to retire from the race in its closing stages, whilst Stroll finished eighth after being demoted from seventh after receiving a five-second time penalty for an off-track overtake on Pierre Gasly.

Szafnauer believes that the lap to the grid, which was conducted at a slower pace due to the wet conditions, could have been the reason behind the problem when he spoke to selected members of the media, which included MotorLat.com. 

"What happened was we overheated the rear brakes, and the laps to the grid weren't at the normal pace that we usually go, so we didn't get the airflow we needed, but we don't fully know why and how."

The cause of the team's gearbox issues is still yet to be known; however, Szafnauer has pinpointed a loss of synchronisation on the start-finish straight as the reason behind the team's problems.

"Well, there were some indicators; it seemed that every time we passed the start finishing line, we lost the synchronisation of the gearbox, so there are some clues, but we still don't know why."

Vettel also received a ten-second stop/go during the restarted race because of the team failing to fit all four wheels onto the car within five minutes of the second formation lap taking place.

Szafnauer stated that the reason behind the subsequent penalty was a communication issue on whether the restart would be a rolling or a standing start.

"We had anticipated a standing start again because the last restarted race we had a standing start, but then we were told that it would be a rolling start quite late."

Despite these setbacks, Szafnauer praised Vettel for his race performance, which saw the German take the gamble of being the first driver to pit for slicks tires on a damp circuit. 

"Although he had the penalty, which meant he was never really in contention, he did some really quick laps after putting the dry tires on, so I think he's getting on top of the car and will just get better as the races go on."