During the Drivers’ Press Conference for the Portuguese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel spoke out on his performance during the first two races of a captivating 2021 F1 season. Whereas there is excitement at the front in the close-contest between Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the same cannot be said for the former 4-time Drivers’ Champion. Sebastian Vettel had a 2020 season to forget and early signs show that potentially the struggles will continue to be encountered by Vettel - despite his much publicised moved from Scuderia Ferrari to Aston Martin. Nevertheless, the man himself says he does not think the first two races of the season are a ‘fair reflection’ of where he is.

In the first instance, Aston Martin’s feelings over how they believe they have been disadvantaged by the new regulations have been well documented. As a result the Aston Martin AMR21 is not the powerhouse it was predicted to be prior to pre-season testing…so far.

The history books of the 2021 F1 season show that Sebastian Vettel has finished the opening two races of the season in 15^th place. His teammate, Lance Stroll, in comparison closed out the opening Grand Prix under the lights in Bahrain in 10^th place and followed this up at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with an even more impressive 8^th place finish.

Speaking to the media during the televised Drivers’ Press Conference for this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel showed signs of confidence:

‘We had some small steps forward…how the race started wasn’t ideal and then it was difficult to recover.’

This is a key element as due to the performance being shown by his teammate Lance Stroll, it is clear that the AMR21 is a point-scoring car despite its struggles.

Speaking to select media later on, including racingnews365.com which published the comments, Sebastian Vettel shared that he is learning from his mistakes:

"We know it's not the position we'd love to be in for this year," Vettel told select media. "But we accept the challenge and we try to get back as quick as we can…You are fighting all the other teams and they're not on holiday, so it's not an easy task to catch up. But I think we are trying to do everything we can.

"I think the first two races we had, I don't think [they were] a fair reflection of where I am, where we are, because I feel that mileage in the car helps me to get things together, to be able to string the laps together."

Sebastian Vettel is not a man to turn away from hard work, he clearly joined Aston Martin as he believes in their vision and he also knows he has a part to play within that:

"I am quite curious for the next couple of races," Vettel remarked. "I wouldn't like to take a shortcut now to halfway through the season or the end of the season or to next year to see where we are. I think the work we can do right now is very essential to whatever comes in the following races or the following time after that."

There is no doubt as to what Sebastian Vettel hopes to get from the upcoming race weekend seeing how the German racer told the world’s media he wants ‘a trouble-free race’. The same will no doubt be said from the millions of Sebastian Vettel fans who know that form is temporary - but class is permanent.

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/19847/f1-it-is-039-every-man-for-himself-039-states-nikita-mazepin