“The more seat time, the better” – Aston Martin F1 boss Otmar Szafnauer is confident of Sebastian Vettel getting amongst the points, starting with the Portuguese GP.
Sebastian Vettel has been unlucky in the first two races of the season, especially in Imola, suffering from rear brake and gearbox issues. But Aston Martin F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer is pleased with the fact that he’s getting more race time in his first time driving a Mercedes-powered car.
“For Seb, the philosophy of the AMR21 is completely different and that does take time to learn. I spoke to Checo [in Imola] and he’s gone to Red Bull, which has a different philosophy to us, and he said similar.
“It’s going to take seat time to be able to get on top of the fine margins needed for getting the most out of the car. The more seat time, the better.
“Seb was not in contention in Imola, through no fault of his own, but if you looked at his pace on the dry tyres, it was promising. I think that shows he’s starting to get on top of the car.
“Seb has very high expectations, he will work tirelessly to get better and move up that learning curve, but he’s not beating himself up. He’ll take that bit of frustration and be even more determined to get up to speed quickly.”
Aston Martin has made a slow start to the season, but have it in them to lead the fight between the 4 midfield As – the other three being AlphaTauri, Alpine, and Alfa Romeo.
