Sebastian Vettel had a miserable final year with Ferrari despite him managing a podium at Istanbul and having a few other relatively strong weekends.
The four-time World Champion was comprehensively outperformed by Charles Leclerc, with his younger team-mate finishing eighth in the standings while he could only manage P13.
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This raised questions about if Leclerc and Vettel had equal machinery at their disposal, as it seemed highly unusual for there to be such a big disparity in pace given the fact the Ferrari team-mates were very so evenly matched the prior season.
Speaking less than two months before Vettel makes his debut with Aston Martin, team owner Lawrence Stroll has said he believes the fundamental handling of the SF1000 was the source of the German’s struggles at the Scuderia in 2020.
“Sebastian had a car at Ferrari that was tricky to drive and that didn’t suit his driving style,” Stroll said.
“It was similar in his last year for Red Bull Racing in 2014. But Vettel is a four-time Formula 1 World Champion. He certainly hasn’t forgotten how to drive a racing car,” the Canadian billionaire added, echoing his previous remarks about Vettel’s talent.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer vowed to give Vettel a car that is well-suited to his driving style.
“Every driver who has competed with us wants a racing car with a sturdy rear end,” Szafnauer told Speedweek.
“On the part of designers, we have always tried to put together a car with good stability in order to meet the driver’s request.
“And we will make sure that we do the same for Sebastian,” he added.
Vettel will partner Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence, at Aston Martin this year – and he’ll be hoping to quickly establish himself as the racing outfit’s number one driver.
He will get his first opportunity to drive for Aston Martin next month at pre-season testing in Bahrain, just a few weeks before the season-opener in the same country.
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