Aston Martin

Vettel explains "small stuff" difficulty with Aston Martin

Ian Parkes Sunday 21 March 2021 16:00

Stuur van Sebastian Vettel in zijn Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel believes the cumulative effect of learning all the "small stuff" with Aston Martin has added up to him being on a steep learning curve with the team in preparation for the new Formula 1 season.

After six years with Ferrari, Vettel now finds himself in a completely different environment that has fewer resources at its disposal compared to the Scuderia.

Although the four-time F1 champion has settled well into the team, pre-season testing was difficult as it resulted in him completing the fewest number of laps of the 20 full-time drivers on the grid.

It has left Vettel with many areas in which he knows he can improve going into the first race in Bahrain on March 26-28.

Asked as to those areas, Vettel replied: "It's getting to know the people, that's one thing, just to understand what they mean.

"Obviously, lots of different things to talk about the car - the steering feels different because it's a different unit.

"Every Formula 1 car has a power steering, but every one is set up different because it gives you a different impression. When you drive you've got the wheel in your hands and that's the feedback you get.

"The car has a different philosophy. It's a different team, a different car so it drives a bit differently, it wants to be driven differently.

"It's a different power unit, but without going into detail because I don't think it's fair to compare in public. Naturally, these things are different, they take a bit of getting used to.

"It's a different environment inside the car as well, just in terms of comfort. The pedals are a little bit different, the seat is a little bit different. It's just small stuff, but it's the amount of all those small things put together that are cumulative."

Vettel's AMR21 sustained gearbox and boost pressure issues in testing that contributed to his limited running, and while both are seemingly attributable to Mercedes, Vettel exercised caution.

"It's true the power unit is a Mercedes, and the gearbox is supplied by Mercedes," added Vettel.

"Still it's installed into our car, so there are a lot of components that mix at some stage. We need to get to the bottom of it. Ultimately it will be more on one side than the other, but it doesn't matter. It needs to be fixed and addressed.

"You obviously work together because whatever we acquire from our side we still need to put it in our car and make it work."