The 2021 season opens with a big question mark for Sebastian Vettel. The 4-times World Champion has completed only 117 laps, ahead only of Williams’ tester Roy Nissany who completed 83. Asked by Motorsport.com  what his plans originally were, the German replied:

“One hundred laps! – he states – Obviously I would have liked to just get more mileage. That's the main thing. So today was very busy and I tried to make use of the track time which I felt I did and it was very good for me and I learned a lot of things, so now it's obviously to remember all these things and give feedback and remember going forward. As I said, overall it's probably 100 laps that I'm short, then probably something similar for Lance [Stroll]. We both obviously didn't get what we wanted. But it's not a big deal, it's what it is and we've got to move on."

#F1Testing? Completed it. ✅

Wake us up when it's race week... pic.twitter.com/2QNZVm6VYX

— Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 15, 2021

Vettel is starting a new adventure with Aston Martin, after some difficult seasons with Ferrari that led him to frustrating results, so it seems extremely positive to listen to his calm, focused tone. The German doesn’t seem like he is worried about a situation which is, clearly, not nearly satisfying as it should have been. The new Aston Martin driver gives credits to his experience and his age, admitting that if he had been younger, it would have felt completely different for him.

“I'm not too preoccupied,- he reflects, thinking about the current situation and about his own feelings - Maybe it's the age, maybe it's the experience, but probably 10 years ago I would finally panic now. But then again, if I were to panic now would it help? Probably not.”

Then, the German praises his new team: “We are just trying to do our things and use the time now we have. We still got some running, And for me it was super, super useful the laps [on the final day]. So, it could be worse. It could be better, but it could be worse. So I think it's about remaining calm, doing one thing at a time and moving forward when it's time to."

Effectively, people are always focused on pre-season tests but we all should regard them for what they are – tests, indeed. There is plenty of time, yet, to improve and to grow, fixing what is revealing to be wrong.

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/19249/f1-james-key-happy-with-the-progress-of-the-mcl35m