Vettel yet to tame Ferrari SF90

Sebastian Vettel admits that he has failed to recapture the form he showed with Ferrari during pre-season testing now that racing as begun. Despite Ferrari being understood to have a significant pace advantage over their rivals, Vettel has not taken to the podium in the opening two races.

Ferrari were off-colour as a team in Australia, but their dominance in Bahrain was undone by Charles Leclerc suffering an engine fault and Vettel spinning in battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel was pre-season favourite with many bookmakers after Ferrari's testing display, and hopes that a post-race test in Bahrain will help him rediscover his best in China this weekend.

"I wasn't happy with my performance [in Bahrain], not happy with the feeling yet with the car, the feeling that I had prior to the season in testing," Vettel said.

"I know I can do better and I know we have lots of races to show and prove that.

"It's normal that you never get the car that you want so you always have to adapt. Very rarely you get races where the car is absolutely fine and you have nothing to complain about.

"I think the [in-season] test was very helpful and useful to get some laps in the car and I think we learnt some things about the car, car behaviour that maybe we couldn't in Barcelona because we were looking at other things.

"The behaviour in Barcelona was very strong so hopefully I have a better feeling in the car this weekend."

Vettel received criticism for his spin in Bahrain, having seen many points slip through his fingers in similar circumstance last season, but rival Lewis Hamilton was among those to defend the German.

"I didn't know he had said anything nice but it's nice to hear," Vettel said.

"Maybe he's the only one that doesn't lack a short-term memory. We've been around a long time and as much as I want to beat Lewis, he wants to beat me but sometimes you never know what exactly is going on with other people in other teams."

Related

Latest F1 News

Vettel comeback decision REVEALED after months of rumours

• September 4, 2024 17:58

F1 Today

F1 News Today: Vettel tipped for shock RETURN as Mercedes 2026 revelation uncovered

• September 3, 2024 14:31