Ferrari to Aston Martin switch "more complex" than rake change - Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari to Aston Martin switch "more complex" than rake change - Vettel

Vettel has gone from a high-rake to low-rake philosophy

Ian Parkes

Saturday 20 March 2021 16:16

Sebastian Vettel has described as "complex" and "interesting" the change he has experienced in car philosophy in switching from Ferrari to Aston Martin.

Vettel is a rarity in Formula 1 as he moved from a team in Ferrari that deployed a high-rake concept with its car to Aston Martin that has only recently switched to low rake.

Rake is essentially the difference in ride height between the front and rear of a car. The way a car is set up in reference to rake can alter the levels of downforce achieved to varying degrees of success.

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It has left Vettel with what he has previously described as "a steep learning curve", in particular, due to the "different philosophy of running a car", but he has made clear there are numerous others distinctions aside from just rake.

Asked as to the differences he has so far discovered with rake between the cars, Vettel replied: "I don't know if it's only due to that. I think it's a lot of other things.

"It's been interesting to me, let's put it that way. It's not like there's only one thing. It's not like you're in a high-rake car and you just drop the rake and you are a Mercedes.

"Or you are a Mercedes, you increase the rake and you drive a Red Bull. It's not like that. It's much more complex. There are a lot more elements that have to come together."

After completing the least number of laps of all the 20 full-time F1 drivers in pre-season testing recently [117], the four-time champion appears set for a difficult first few races with Aston Martin.

An additional problem area is with Pirelli's new tyres for this season which the Italian manufacturer claims are "more robust" than last year's construction.

"It's one of the main areas for everybody," assessed Vettel. "They're different, we saw last year they were slower.

"Obviously this year we don't get to have a comparison because the '19 tyres don't exist any more so we can't just cross-check.

"But we obviously try to set up our car around these tyres but they are very different.

"It's only one track we've been to so we will see in the next tracks.

"There's probably no point trying to compare to the other tyres because you've got to deal with the new tyres, but they are different and I think a bit slower to start with."