“It could be close in that big group” – Sebastian Vettel is optimistic of Aston Martin this season and expects them to perform better than P7 last season.
Aston Martin have been impressive performers in F1 in their Force India and Racing Point avatars. But unlike their predecessors, they had a disappointing outing last season, much to the surprise of everyone concerned.
They have started better this season in the pre-season testing in Bahrain, but Vettel feels it’s irrelevant, as the race weekends will determine their fate, ultimately.
“I think it is a bit irrelevant the positions today. They don’t mean anything by next week.
“We ran through our programme which is good, we did a lot of laps in the afternoon, it was the first time I was in the afternoon session, the track was very different, so overall I’m happy.
“P10 or not, I think I’m happy that we’ve had a lot of work the last couple of weeks and it looks like we’ve found a way that we can go racing and now we will see next week where we are.”
This time next week, we race. 👊 #F1 pic.twitter.com/3ZUzRfAX9s
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 13, 2022
Will Aston Martin win the midfield battle?
Aston Martin is expected to compete for the Top 5 this season, but there is going to be intense competition for it. Vettel acknowledges that, but is optimistic of a strong showing this season.
“I don’t think we are the fastest and the favourites at this point, but it’s a long season. And it’s interesting because at this stage nobody really knows where they are.
“I think probably there are one or two or three teams a little bit ahead, and then there seems to be a big group with everybody else more or less in the same performance level.
“So let’s see where exactly we are, but it could be close in that big group.”
