Sebastian Vettel doesn’t think the upgrades from Ferrari is any game changer as Carlos Sainz is not thinking too much about his move in F1 2021.
Heading into the Hungarian GP, Ferrari are in a precarious situation. Not only is their performance lacking, but they also are in the dark when it pertains to the effectiveness of the aerodynamic upgrades that they strapped onto the car for last week’s F1 Styrian GP.
Evidently, neither of the above facts are ideal for the team, as Vettel was quick to point out on Thursday afternoon, as he spoke badly of the team’s double-DNF in Styria while assessing his outfit’s rank. He did, however, add that the experience of Ferrari at the Hungaroring could play into their hands.
“It’s a difficult question and probably the right answer would be we don’t exactly know,” said Vettel to media including Racefans.net, Motorsport Network, AMuS and more. “I think Sunday would have helped us to understand better also at the same track: to see the pace one weekend and then the next weekend, but then again I think the team has a lot of experience we know, coming here.
“You know what this track is about the tyres and so on. So, we will see I think and get the final confirmation this week. We know that the parts have worked, we would have liked them to be obviously a game changer, it doesn’t look at this stage, like that, but then again we have to confirm them in real race conditions.
“So I think it will be interesting and we are excited about seeing where the car will be in practice and then especially in the race,” said Vettel, who added that Ferrari are – for the foreseeable future – stuck in the midfield. “I think realistically we are struggling with the performance at the moment.
“So I don’t think we can consider us fighting for podiums at the moment, but we try to make to change that. And we are trying to work as hard as possible to change this,” summed up Vettel. Teammate Charles Leclerc had similar thoughts regarding Ferrari’s performance.
Meanwhile, some have been quick to point out that the Ferrari is so slow that to-be the Italian outfit’s driver Sainz – currently driving for the stronger-on-pace team of McLaren – might be regretting his decision to switch teams, particularly given the downward trend this year – a stark contrast to that of his current team, who are trending upward.
Sainz dismissed this, saying that patience will be key. He adds that much can change in a year, as – even though chassis’ will be carried over to 2021 – surface aerodynamics will be. “Many people are asking me this question like if I am extremely worried or regretting my decision or anything,” he said.
“And I feel like this is not a real question to be answered right now. I think it is way too early into a season, we all need to be a bit patient. I think you’ve clearly seen how much a car can change from one year to another. How much Racing Point could change from year to year. How much Ferrari can change from last year to this year.
“The good thing about Formula 1 is that this never stops and I’m not worried about what is happening now because in a year, in 360 days, everything could change. That’s why I’m focusing on the present, focusing on my time in McLaren.
“I said it 100 times in interviews that my main goal this year is to do as best as I can in McLaren and not focus on what is going on in Ferrari. And then as soon as this season is over, I will have time to to go into Ferrari and focus on that and see how we can make next season better on this one.”
Here’s what Sebastian Vettel said regarding his future
Here’s news about Sebastian Vettel and Racing Point/Aston Martin
Here’s Carlos Sainz on Styrian GP
The story was edited by Darshan Chokhani
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