Vettel seeking to find instant Aston Martin "groove"

Sebastian Vettel has acknowledged Aston Maritn has "a lot of work" to do on its return to Formula 1 and as he seeks to "get into the groove" as soon as possible following a wretched end to his time with Ferrari.

Vettel endured his worst Formula 1 season to date last year, scoring just 33 points compared to the 98 of his then-Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The four-time F1 champion is now looking to kickstart his career with Aston Martin, a team he can sense is invigorated under its new identity as the brand returns to F1 after a 61-year absence.

Assessing what he has discovered with the team, Vettel replied: “A very excited group of people, great spirit and generally in a great mood.

“There is a lot of work in general ahead of all of us as a group, as a team, but excitement is the answer in one word.

“I’m excited. I think the car looks really, really cool. Obviously, it’s a completely new car for me and a different philosophy.

"I’ve spent a lot of time with the engineers trying to get on top of all the differences, not just technically but also procedurally so hopefully it doesn’t take a lot of time to get into the groove."

Although Vettel has joined Aston Martin in the final year of the current aerodynamic regulations, he appreciates he will have to adapt to a vastly different car to that which he was accustomed to with Ferrari.

That has led to a considerable amount of sim work. Vettel added: “In the sim, it is very difficult to compare.

"Every sim is a bit different by the hardware of the sim you use and therefore also how the car feels, how well you are able to feel the car's behaviour etcetera.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to get a little bit of running and get in the groove to get some feedback.

"I think it is a never-ending project, developing the sim in terms of realism and correlation, so I think there is still a lot that can be done."

Vettel will drive in the morning session on the first day of pre-season testing with team-mate Lance Stroll taking the wheel on Friday afternoon.

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