Vettel 'hesitant' to 'unleash himself' at "tricky" track

Sebastian Vettel feels he "hesitated" too much and lacked the confidence needed to "unleash yourself" on the streets of Baku after finishing a disappointing 15th fastest on the opening day of practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Vettel arrived on a high after scoring his first points of the season last time out in Monaco with a stunning drive to fifth place but the Aston Martin driver was brought back down to earth with a deflating performance on Friday.

"I hesitated a little bit," explained Vettel. "I just need to get into a better rhythm earlier in the session. It's a tricky track, you need to have, one, the confidence, and second, unleash yourself. I struggled a bit with that.

"I think I didn't quite get everything out of the soft tyres but I think there were a lot of people that probably had the same issues, just with yellow flags and stuff."

Vettel, who joined Aston Martin from Ferrari this season, has never qualified nor finished a race in Azerbaijan lower than fourth position but with the lacklustre performance of his new team that record is likely to end this weekend.

The German was one of a number of drivers to end up on the escape roads as they pushed to find the limits on the slippery surface having missed out on a visit to the track last season.

The barrier-lined street circuit contains an ominous number of potential incident spots and Vettel explained: "Obviously it's good to decide to go to the escape road rather than having a tight call and being too tight.

"It's good that we kept the car between the walls and not in the walls. We had a good amount of laps, we have a good understanding where the car is so I would say we have done our homework and now we need to focus on performance."

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Lewis Hamilton is now winless for a year but iconic track will bring Ferrari star glory

• Just now

NLS 2026 Schedule: When is Max Verstappen's next chance of redemption at the Nurburgring?

• 1 hour ago

Zak Brown summons F1 team to McLaren HQ as 2026 crisis addressed

• 3 hours ago

F1 champion to make surprise appearance in 2026 London Marathon

• Today 13:55

'They should all be sacked': Aston Martin scolded for major Honda blunder

• Today 12:57

Mercedes release official statement after disqualification heartbreak

• Today 11:53