Vettel: Ferrari won't repeat Australia flop in Bahrain
Vettel: Ferrari won't repeat Australia flop in Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel is confident that Ferrari will not suffer such a drop-off in performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, having seen pre-season billing as favourites wiped out at the Australian GP. Vettel and Charles Leclerc came home fourth and fifth in Melbourne, well adrift of a dominant Mercedes.
Valtteri Bottas took victory at Albert Park, after Lewis Hamilton had secured pole position for a sixth year in a row.
While Vettel was in position to capitalise on a Mercedes mistake 12 months prior and win the season-opener, he could only watch as the Silver Arrows streaked clear last weekend, ultimately falling into the clutches of Max Verstappen, who snatched the final podium spot for Red Bull.
GPFans F1 Podcast #2 - Australian GP recap, your questions and Guess The Grid!Read more
Ferrari and Vettel bounced back from a pace deficit last year to win from pole in Bahrain, and the German says he will head to Sakhir more confident than a year ago, despite the difficult Australia weekend.
"I think we have all the tools, all the ingredients that we need," said Vettel.
"We have a good car, we know it. Overall we're not competitive enough [in Australia], but we will be back.
"Last year we left winter testing with problems on the car. It wasn't behaving the way we wanted it, the way it should.
"This year was the opposite, the car was behaving the way we expected and it felt very good.
"That's why we came here last year and the balance wasn't right, because we had to cover up. We had a very poor rear end last year and felt we had to trim the car towards understeer a lot. That didn't feel great.
"We managed [in Australia] last year, and the race pace was fine, but we weren't there in qualifying. We got lucky in the race, but I think by Bahrain we had fixed all our issues from winter testing last year in the first race, and that's why I think we all of a sudden unlocked a lot more pace for last year.
"This year, the problem that we have has nothing to do with what we have seen last year.
"Still all the car and all the numbers and so on make sense also, but clearly we're missing something.
"I'm sure we'll find something because we know that the car is better than what we've seen, not just [in the race] but the whole weekend."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Audi agree STAR driver contract as Mercedes driver tipped for new F1 seat THIS season - GPFans F1 Recap
- 1 hour ago
Ferrari show off new-look drivers following HUGE announcement
- 2 hours ago
McLaren leading fight for HUGE cash injection
- 3 hours ago
Newey set to announce STUNNING Red Bull departure
- Yesterday 17:57
Newey Red Bull exit wish CONFIRMED as F1 guru's reasons revealed
- Yesterday 20:57
F1 legend reveals 'FLOOD' of death threats after controversial decision
- Yesterday 19:57
Related news
Marko reveals Vettel requirements for stunning F1 comeback
Wolff drops Vettel F1 return clue
Vettel considering 'interesting' F1 return option
Hamilton backs Vettel to REPLACE him at Mercedes
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860