Mercedes wasn’t the only team to run into trouble during pre-season testing in Bahrain. Your customer team, Aston Martin, is in the same boat as you. On all three days in Bahrain, they encountered reliability problems, especially the marquee driver Sebastian Vettel. Her mileage was only the second worst for Mercedes.
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On the other hand, their midfield rivals made significant strides. With its unique diffuser concept, McLaren is the preseason favorite to keep its third place in the constructors’ championship.
Formula 1 F1 – Pre-Season Tests – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 12, 2021 Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in action testing REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed
So F1 host Will Buxton believes the British team will lag behind its rivals at the season opener in Bahrain. “You’re on your hindfoot for the season. It’s not the kind of joyful start to the year they were hoping for. “
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In relation to their midfield competitors, Ferrari has also developed a vastly improved engine that will benefit not only them but also their customer team, Alfa Romeo. The Swiss team’s performance also looked positive and, according to Buxton, they could challenge Aston Martin in the lower pantheons of midfield.
“Potentially fight with Alpine or maybe fight with Alfa Romeo. Of course, it’s too early to say what’s really going on, but it wasn’t as good as a week of testing that they were hoping for. “
Sebastian Vettel, where Aston Martin is right now
Sebastian Vettel only drove 117 laps, few of the regular drivers. So he is not able to judge the competitiveness of the AMR21.
“Where are we? I think it’s very difficult to say in terms of competitiveness. We haven’t done a lot of runs that are probably similar to other people’s runs to give us a little comparison,” said Vettel.
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“But I don’t think that’s too important because we’ll find out in two weeks anyway, so everything’s fine for you from now on, two weeks of speculation.”
Formula 1 F1 – Pre-Season Tests – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed
Because of his test fights, we can’t help but pity him a little. But let’s hope the German has a couple of decent laps behind him during practice. And be in the know as soon as the heat of battle starts with qualifying. Only then can we really assess Aston Martin’s level of competition.
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