‘Today Was Not Ideal’ – Sebastian Vettel Admits to Frustration as Aston Martin F1 Face Reliability Woes

After a decent opening day of F1 testing in Bahrain, day 2 proved to be problematic for Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel. The four-time world champion had to head back to the garage with a gearbox issue. Naturally, he wasn’t too happy with the limited testing he got on the second day of pre-season tests.

The German opened for the Silverstone-based team, taking the AMR21 for a spin in the morning session. However, just six laps in, he encountered an issue with the gearbox. This was the second time in two days that a Mercedes-powered car endured gearbox issues; on day 1, Valtteri Bottas suffered a similar fate.

However, unlike Valtteri, Sebastian came back onto the track in the dying minute of the morning session to take his total tally of laps for the day to eight. But that is far from what the ex-Ferrari man would have liked.

Reflecting on his tests, Vettel said (translated via Google), “It has not been a very busy day for me. We experienced a gearbox problem pretty early on and that has kept the car in the garage. The guys did a great job to quickly fit a new gearbox and we started again just before the end of the morning session.

“Doing so few laps today was not ideal because there is only one more day of testing before I come back here for the race and I am still learning about this new car.”

Nevertheless, from a team’s point of view, Sebastian is happy with the information they got through his teammate Lance Stroll’s tests.

Sebastian Vettel is hoping for a better final day of testing with Aston Martin

Continuing, Vettel said, “Fortunately, things have gone a little better this afternoon for Lance and we have gathered some important information. I hope we can have a simpler day tomorrow.”

The ex-Red Bull star will pilot the AMR21 for the final session of testing ahead of the new season. He’d hope to put in as many laps as possible to learn everything he can about his new machine. It will be pivotal for Vettel to start the new season on the right foot.

With the British team expected to compete for third place in a super tight mid-field, Sebastian will be expected to start strongly. He won’t be afforded any time to adapt once the races begin.

Can the four-time world champion recover his lost mojo in 2021? We shall soon find out.

Also Read: ‘Don’t Think We Have an Excuse’ – Sebastian Vettel’s Verdict After Experiencing Mercedes F1 Power