Sebastian Vettel believes it would be a “missed opportunity” if Aston Martin wrote off its 2021 season and fully focused on next year’s Formula 1 car.
Four-time F1 world champion Vettel joined Aston Martin this season after leaving Ferrari late last year and teaming up with Lance Stroll.
Vettel had hoped to rediscover his form after a difficult final year at Ferrari, but failed to score points in the first three races of the season.
Aston Martin had problems with its AMR21 car after the downforce cuts in accordance with the revised technical regulations for this year, finishing seventh in the team standings.
However, Vettel felt that there was still a lot of work to be done on this year’s car and that it was not worth giving up all development in order to focus fully on the design of 2022.
“I don’t think shortcuts are going to help you a big thing not just now, but in life in general,” Vettel said.
“There are so many things we can still learn and we can still have a better understanding [of] as a team. I think it would be a missed opportunity.
“Now the question is obvious, how do you measure the odds, whether you measure in podiums and points and win or in another currency.
“I think that as a team we can still improve a lot of little things. But in the end, it’s always the little things that make a difference and lead to perfection.
“Even if you know we’re not in the positions we’d like, I think it’s still time well spent.”
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Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer previously spoke about how the rear-end instability of the car was hampering Vettel due to changes in ground regulations for this year.
Vettel will receive an update package this weekend in Spain after teammate Stroll unveiled the new parts that he hoped would bring more grip in Portimao last weekend.
“The ultimate update is more grip,” said Vettel.
“If you look at the cars that go faster, they have more grip, not just at low speeds. So we obviously tried to heal that as best we could with driving and then work on the set-up in the car. [and] The last one is updates that you obviously can’t bring with you, or that you just don’t have as many as you’d like.
“I think it’s a normal process. I think even the fastest cars have weaknesses and you try to work on them. But obviously from our location we probably don’t have as much grip as we’d like, and then it’s normal to have fights.
“I think the final venue was quite difficult for all of us as the wind threw the car off as well. I’m curious how it feels here. Probably a little different. “
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