F1 Testing: Sebastian Vettel Refuses to Blame Mercedes for Aston Martin Engine Issues

Sebastian Vettel can’t seem to catch a break. After being blighted by gearbox problems on Saturday, his rotten luck spilled over to the final day of testing in Bahrain when his car encountered engine problems.

The boost pressure issue of the Mercedes power unit affected his AMR21 on Sunday. While some others did close to 100 laps on a given day of testing itself, Vettel‘s total count for the three-day event in Bahrain was just 117.

Most of us imagined a better time for him this season, at least from an engine point of view. He is driving the class-leading Mercedes‘ turbo-hybrid engine for the first time. Yet, it was this component that affected his running on the final day. But the German refuses to point his finger towards a particular party –

“The components are in our car and mix with our own components. In the end, the fault is always a bit more on one side or the other. But that is not important. It is only important that it is fixed.”

Sebastian Vettel not panicking ahead of the season-opener

Ideally, he would have wished for 100 more laps in the car. It is a huge bump in the road for him. However, the former Ferrari driver is confident that he and his team can get on top of the issues ahead of the season-opener in Bahrain-

“It started a bit bumpy, but the season is still long. I’m sure that we can solve all the small problems and that we will be better positioned in two weeks.”

Vettel has been part of the F1 grid for more than a decade now. Not to forget that he’s won four world championships during that time span with Red Bull. So, he can count on that experience to overcome this adversity.

“I’ve been around for so long. The whole thing doesn’t bother you so much. Ten years ago, panic would probably be the order of the day. But that doesn’t help. We have to stay calm, give us time, and do our work. After all, we have a few runs to analyze. It could be better, but it could have been worse,” said Vettel.

(Quotes have been translated via Google)

Let’s hope that Vettel’s time in the cockpit is much sweeter during the race weekends.

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