Joining Aston Martin wasn’t a mistake for Sebastian Vettel, says Marc Surer. He just didn’t think that before 2020 the team only designed “mediocre cars”.
Last season, Racing Point, as the team was known at the time, raised its eyebrows when they unveiled a replica Mercedes F1 car dubbed the “pink Mercedes” by the media.
The team took a race win, Sergio Perez triumphed at the Sakhir Grand Prix and finished fourth in the constructors’ championship.
It would have been the third if the team hadn’t lost 15 points for using Mercedes’ brake lines, which was against the rules.
While Racing Point made headlines, Vettel was looking for a new team that Ferrari had announced that 2020 would be their final season with the Maranello team.
Vettel signed with Aston Martin, both on the team and in the driver, in hopes that this would revive his career.
Four races in the 2021 season and Vettel has not yet scored a single point, Aston Martins AMR01 has lost its pace miserably.
Surer says Vettel signed the “right thing” with Aston Martin, thinking this season would be a continuation of last year’s form.
“He definitely did everything right,” he told Sport1.
“The problem is the history of the team, they’ve only ever built mediocre cars and last year they suddenly had a top car.
“He thought I was going to jump up. But they had a 100 percent copy of the Mercedes. “
But now that the FIA is setting the rules to prevent copying, although they still have the same philosophy as the Mercedes car, they have come up with something of their own, and they have “made the car worse,” added Surer added.
“He probably thought that he would get through because Mercedes was somehow involved.”
You can get the latest goods from Sebastian Vettel / Aston Martin via the official Formula 1 store
Vettel also finds it much more difficult than expected to swap teams as Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz have the same problem.
The trio changed teams together with Daniel Ricciardo in the off-season and all four are behind their teammates in the overall standings.
“Everyone’s having a hard time,” added Surer. ‘Perez and Sainz haven’t made it yet. This is due to the lack of test drives.
“There is also no collaboration with the team engineer. You have to find yourself first. This interaction is taking longer than I thought. “
The former racing driver hopes that the next race, the Monaco GP, will be better for Vettel.
“Monaco is a race in itself. The car has to fit. Vettel said he was a little more comfortable in the car. That could be a good sign for Monaco, ”he said.
“He will come from the deep. The future looks bright. “
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The post Vettel’s problem was that the team “only ever built mediocre cars”. first appeared on monter-une-startup.
