Vettel Getting ‘Better and Better’ Despite Imola Setback: Aston Martin F1

Sebastian Vettel has started his new chapter at Aston Martin, but things, unfortunately, haven’t gone the way the German would’ve wanted them to. Two out two of the races the four-time world champion has run with his new team have turned out to be disappointing. However, team boss Otmar Szafnauer wants to give his driver time to improve and show his true pace.

In the opening race of the season at Bahrain, Vettel had a grid penalty and had to start from the back. Later on in the race, the German was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Esteban Ocon.

Imola was Vettel’s chance of making amends for the Silverstone-based team. However, it wasn’t meant to be, as he had brake issues before the race. And later on had to retire due to gearbox issues.

Otmar believes that Sebastian Vettel just needs more time to get in sync with car

Unlike Seb’s critics, his boss Otmar Szafnauer believes that the German will eventually perform and just needs time to understand the car better.

As quoted by Motorsport.total.com, the team boss said, “It’s simple: the more time in the car, the better. And most of all, I regret that we weren’t as reliable in winter as we should be.

 “I think he’s starting to get around with the car. It’s getting better and better.”

“Because as a result, Vettel got even less to drive and drove the fewest kilometers of all regular drivers. Seb has lost a lot of his one and a half days. If Seb had been sitting in the car more, it would probably be somewhere else in his learning curve,” Szafnauer concluded.

The German is well aware there is work to be done to get results

The 33-year-old knows they have to improve to achieve what they have set out for this season and they need to do it fast.

After the race at Imola, Vettel said, “I think we could have had a better race if the FIA was more alert. We broke a rule, I guess, that’s why we got a penalty, but they didn’t bother [to penalise us] until way into the race, so by that time obviously, the penalty cost us a lot more than it would have earlier in the race.”

“So that’s not very professional, but it certainly wasn’t the decider for us today we had plenty of issues. So, not the trouble-free race that we were hoping for [it was a] tough day,” Vettel concluded.

The four-time world champion has learned his mistakes from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and will be looking to do better at the next race, which is in Portugal. Vettel would aim to bring his first points of the season for the Silverstone-based team.

Read More: Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin Struggles Reminiscent of Ferrari Problems: Ralf Schumacher