Vettel puts Aston Martin woes in perspective by claiming even Mercedes has "weaknesses"

Sebastian Vettel believes Aston Martin's troubles this year are not a unique set of circumstances as even F1 championship leaders Mercedes will have weaknesses.

Aston Martin has scored just five points so far, plummeting from 42 scored from the first four races of last season, and is racing against time to add performance to the AMR21 before the team fully switches focus to the new 2022 regulations.

The quest for added performance is one each team embarks on annually, with no car remaining unchanged from launch to the end of the season, a fact Vettel was keen to remind people of.

“I think it’s a normal process," said Vettel. "Even the fastest cars have weaknesses and you try to work on those.

"But obviously, from where we are, we probably don't have the amount of grip that we would like and then it is normal to have struggles."

After Lance Stroll ran the team's upgraded aerodynamic components in Portugal, Vettel then trialled the parts in Spain but still finished 13th, leaving him without a point this season since his move from Ferrari.

Vettel added: “The ultimate update is to have more grip so obviously, if you look at the cars that go faster, they have more grip and not just in low speed.

“We are obviously trying to cure that as much as we can, driving and working on the set-up in the car, and the last one being updates, which obviously you can’t bring or you just don’t have as many as you would like."

Rule changes over the winter appeared to affect low-rake designed cars more than those that run a high-rake, and although Mercedes has recouped the lost downforce, Aston Martin has so far been unable to mimic this.

“If you are completely honest then our car is not quick enough," assessed Vettel. "We wanted to be quicker.

"The rule change has hurt us more than it probably did other people but it is what it is and we’ve got to make the most out of it.”

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