F1 News
Vettel: Ferrari's 2019 car is not as bad as it looks
Bobby Vincent
Sebastian Vettel has insisted that Ferrari's 2019 Formula 1 car is not "as bad as it looks" despite the manufacturer failing to win a race in the opening six races of the season.
Mercedes have dominated the season thus far - winning each of the six races - with Vettel's P2 on Sunday denying the Silver Arrows a sixth successive one-two finish.
Vettel moved up to third in the drivers' standings with the finish on Sunday, but he is 55 points adrift of Lewis Hamilton, who leads the way yet again, with Mercedes 118 points in front of Ferrari in the constructors' standings.
"I saw that Valtteri (Bottas) was faster but there was no way he was going to pass, as our straight-line speed is really good," Vettel said following Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
"It's just because overall we are lacking downforce, a weakness that we know. I don't think the car is as bad as it looks. The results should be better here and there but it's very difficult for us to get the car in the window where it is happy.
"Certainly when we get it in there we're more competitive but still a way from where we want to be. That's really the key lesson: we need to focus on trying to get the car short-term more in that window."
