Sebastian Vettel would “panic” at his lack of running during Formula 1 pre-season testing a decade ago, but insists he got some “super useful” laps in the Aston Martin.
The three-day test was the four-time world champion’s first opportunity to get a real understanding of the AMR21, but his running was beset with reliability woes.
It meant Vettel clocked the least amount of laps around the Bahrain International Circuit, managing just 117 in total, which proved 120 fewer than AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who recorded the most milage.
Vettel now goes into the season opener with little knowledge of his new car and Mercedes power unit, which he will use for the first time in his career in 2021, but stressed he is calm about the situation.
“I’m not too preoccupied,” Vettel said, as quoted by Motorsport.com “Maybe it’s the age, maybe it’s the experience, but probably 10 years ago I would finally panic now. But then again, if I were to panic now would it help? Probably not.
“We are just trying to do our things and use the time now we have. We still got some running, And for me it was super, super useful the laps [on the final day]. So, it could be worse. It could be better, but it could be worse.
“So I think it’s about remaining calm, doing one thing at a time and moving forward when it’s time to.”
Although other drivers had more milage in their 2021 challengers than him, Vettel believes its “not possible” that anyone can leave Bahrain feeling they’re in good shape given the fewer test days.
“Even I think the people that had no trouble at all and did lots of laps, I don’t think you can acquire all the information about the new cars, the new tyres, and the changes over the winter in just one and a half days in the car,” Vettel said.
“Let’s be honest: it’s quite difficult to practice, we need to be in the car and we need to run. You can do simulator all winter long but it’s not the same.
“So if anybody steps out of the car after one and a half days and is up to the speed that he was after 17 races in 20 weeks as we had last year, I think that’s not possible.
“It will naturally take a little bit of time to get up to speed. But for sure there’s some people who need more time, some who need less.”
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