Breaking news
Formula 1
Vettel says Mercedes "more at ease" with 2020 F1 car
Sebastian Vettel believes Mercedes' looked "more at ease" with its new Formula 1 car through winter testing, leaving Ferrari trailing ahead the new season.
Luke Smith
Published: Mar 3, 2020, 1:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Mercedes ended pre-season testing with the fastest time and more laps completed than any other team, prompting Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto to declare his team was behind on pace.
Vettel and teammate Charles Leclerc supported Binotto's assessment, but Mercedes pace-setter Valtteri Bottas was unwilling to read too much into the comments, saying teams play "weird games" in winter.
Vettel reported that his Ferrari car felt "too draggy" through testing, having lapped a second off Bottas' benchmark time.
Asked if he felt worried by what he'd seen from Mercedes, Vettel replied: "It just looks as if Mercedes is more at ease.
"Not just for the one lap, which is what people look at, but just in general, also the [long] runs.
"I think we also had some runs that were better, some runs that were worse. It's a bit hard to tell, with the time of day, track conditions, then I don't know what people are doing in the background.
"Obviously we tested some stuff that was very good, other stuff that wasn't good, so it also has an impact on laptimes.
"Probably if you look right now, Mercedes is at the top. Every time they go out, they are fairly quick with ease, whereas others I think need to stretch a bit more."
Ferrari opens said it was changing its approach for testing in 2020 after an impressive performance ahead of the '19 season proved misleading.
The team won just three races as Mercedes wrapped up both championships with ease despite appearing to struggle in testing.
Vettel said that while it was hard to be confident of the pecking order until the opening race in Melbourne, he felt enough of a picture could be built from the testing results.
"I think we see enough with six days of running. You know roughly where you're at, but come Australia, things may look different," Vettel said.
"We'll really see where we are in the first two races. I think you have a good picture, and then take it from there.
"Right now, maybe we are not at the top of the timesheets every day, so maybe not the favourites, but let's see where we are in Australia."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Pirelli unveils teams' first tyre selections for 2020
Next article Ferrari postpones Fiorano F1 tyre test
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Sebastian Vettel
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC 21 h
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
More from
Mercedes
George Russell predicts key Ferrari "advantage" at F1 Mexican GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
5 h
George Russell predicts key Ferrari "advantage" at F1 Mexican GP
George Russell on F1 title loss: 'This year won't break me'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
16 h
George Russell on F1 title loss: 'This year won't break me'
Latest news
What Kyle Larson needs to do to clinch NASCAR Cup title early at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
12 min
What Kyle Larson needs to do to clinch NASCAR Cup title early at Martinsville
Pedro Acosta fast but “feeling terrible” in Malaysian GP practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
47 min
Pedro Acosta fast but “feeling terrible” in Malaysian GP practice
Fabio Quartararo 19th and angry: “I’ve not struggled so much at Sepang in a long time”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
Fabio Quartararo 19th and angry: “I’ve not struggled so much at Sepang in a long time”
"When I don't have pain, I gain," says Maverick Vinales after return to form in Malaysian MotoGP practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
"When I don't have pain, I gain," says Maverick Vinales after return to form in Malaysian MotoGP practice
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe