No upgrades for Aston Martin in Portimao, Vettel has to wait another week

For Aston Martin the start of the 2021 season has turned out differently than expected. With the change of name from Racing Point to Aston Martin they had hoped to continue the upward trend of 2020, but with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll as drivers things haven't really gone smoothly within the team. The Silverstone-based team clearly need to make strides if they are to play a role in the midfield.

According to team boss Otmar Szafnauer, this is also because new drivers are not yet used to the 2021 cars."The philosophy of the car is different and that needs time to get used to. I spoke to Checo about it, who also had to get used to it at Red Bull and he said he felt exactly the same. It is not easy to get the maximum out of these cars", Szafnauer acknowledged in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport.

Developments only in Barcelona

At Aston Martin they are working hard to make the car more comfortable for Vettel, but that also takes time and that is something F1 teams have very little of this season."We really regret that the reliability wasn't great during the test days and that's where Sebastian lost valuable time. Otherwise he would be more confident by now."

Upgrades to the German's car will also help to build confidence, but according to Szafnauer, Vettel will have to wait an extra week before his car is fitted with new parts. Only in Barcelona will the AMR-21 receive its upgrades."We all know that Vettel has high expectations of himself and that he is working very hard to improve. The frustration he has now will only make him improve faster."