Vettel: “There's not much we can learn”

With three tenths ahead of his closest pursuer (Valtteri Bottas), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) easily signed the best time of the second day winter testing on the Barcelona circuit (Spain). Of course, the time sheet is only of relative importance during pre-season preparations, but there is nothing better than a problem-free day to boost the morale of the troops.

Experienced, Sebastian Vettel does not want to get carried away. “The car runs well, it has no problems in terms of reliability. Have we taken a step forward in terms of performance? Honestly, I don't know at the moment. It is in reality impossible to compare the new car compared to the old version for several reasons. First of all, the track is much colder than in 2017. In addition, the circuit was completely resurfaced at the end of last year. In any case, overall, it works normally. The objective at the moment is to accumulate the kilometers in order to better understand the car.", He explains.

Like the day before, the terrible weather (cool temperature and snowfall at the end of the afternoon) made the tests difficult. “I think everyone here is experiencing the same problem.pine, namely heating the tires in these conditions. Ten degrees on the track is too little, it was very, very cold. These are not normal conditions. »

Due to this polar climate, the four-time world champion was unable to learn any important lessons from this session. “There’s not much you can learn. We look at what the other teams are doing, we try to compare ourselves, but I think we shouldn't look at that very closely. That doesn't make much sense. In any case, I hope that the next two days as well as the second week of testing will be more productive..."

When asked if moving the pre-season tests to the Middle East (Bahrain hosted the tests in 2014) would be more suitable, the German errs on the side of pragmatism. “Right now, obviously I’d like to be somewhere warmer. But it's always the same story. If tomorrow or next week the weather is sunny, we won't talk about it anymore! We're just unlucky. »