Why Vettel's far from done annoying Ferrari

Formula 1's management of pre-season testing for the first time this year has meant there's been a slightly different flavour to test days for the media, with official press conferences that mirror those that take place at grands prix being held each day.

But an extra session on the opening day of this week's action - with Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto and Sebastian Vettel being called up - got the paddock rumour mill especially excited.

Some even suggested the press conference had been hurriedly called together because Ferrari wanted to make an announcement. Was Ferrari going to confirm a contract extension for Vettel? Was the four-time champion going to announce his retirement?

The potential for either scenario was clear, with the press conference becoming the first of testing that was standing room only. But, if anyone was hoping for any drama, they were quickly brought back down to earth when it became clear that this was nothing more than another chance to chat to the pair. No news here: move on.

But while the session itself offered no major headline, the message coming out of it was pretty clear: Ferrari may not be on the front foot in testing so far (despite what the timesheets said on Thursday), but Vettel is still in love with his lot and isn't going to be walking away any time soon.

"You know the satisfaction you get from driving the cars, I still say it's the same," he says. "But obviously we're not just here to get a great feeling driving around. I'm here to win.

"In that regard, we had the recent years. Some of them were good, better than others, but none of them have been to our liking at the very end.

"I joined Ferrari to win the championship. We haven't done so so far. It's been a couple of years now. But as I said, the hunger and the will, the determination is still there. The group is there inside the team. So we are here to fight."

"In high-speed corners, so Turn 3, Turn 9, it just feels a lot more comfortable. And then for the rest of the track you can feel there's more grip" Sebastian Vettel on the SF1000

It's that issue of fighting that is Ferrari's main concern right now. The new SF1000 has not set the world on fire in testing, but Vettel did finally top the times with a lower-fuel run on Thursday morning.

The windy conditions were far from ideal for lap times though, which means it is still hard to gauge exactly where Ferrari stands compared to Mercedes and Red Bull.

What is clear, though, is that Ferrari is struggling with straightline speed - and there also appear to be a few issues with its car not being consistent through the different phases of a corner.

As Charles Leclerc said: "I would not call it a weakness, but for now we still need to work on the balance of the car and try to put the balance a bit more together from entry to exit of the corners. But that's something that is normal during testing."

There is a fair deal of uncertainty about just where Ferrari stands. Its new approach to testing has meant the focus has been on better understanding the car, its aero profile and its set-up, after feeling it did not cover enough ground 12 months ago when it rocketed through testing.

Vettel says he has seen enough in the data - and especially how the car has performed in the third sector at Barcelona - to feel that progress has been made in the corners.

"Where it's improved obviously is in the corners," he says. "Down the straight is very difficult to tell, and obviously in testing is not the point to go fastest down the straight.

"A lot of work is based around the corners, just trying to get a feel, test different set-up items and [that] the car is a step forward. So probably around here in high-speed corners, so that's Turn 3, Turn 9, it just feels a lot more comfortable through there. And then for the rest of the track you can feel there's more grip."

But it's the straights where the real intrigue lies. Last week the data from testing suggested Ferrari had not been stretching its legs, and running its engine up to one second per lap slower than its customers.

Mercedes even asked in its post-event press release: "Why have Ferrari spent this test running their PU consistently at much lower levels than their partner teams?"

Binotto says those suggestions were 'not correct': and Vettel offers an interesting pointer, suggesting that the new car is simply a bit draggy.

"Normally in testing, you don't show all your hand, so you try to do it when nobody is watching or when people can't read the laps," he says. "We knew that the car is more draggy, and we also measured it being more draggy. I don't know how much. In the end, we're also faster in the corners by quite a chunk."

Where does all this leave Ferrari? Nobody knows for sure. Vettel says Mercedes appears much better able to roll out quick lap times easily, and seems under no illusion that Ferrari will head to the season opener in Melbourne as favourite.

"He comes with a lot of experience being world champion. He's a great leader in the team: with engineers, with his team-mate as well, which is important" Mattia Binotto on Sebastian Vettel

"It just looks as if Mercedes is more at ease, not just for the one lap, which is what people look at, but just in general, also the runs," he says. "But I think we also had some runs that were better, some runs that were worse. It's a bit hard to tell, time of day, track conditions, then I don't know what people are doing in the background.

"We tested some stuff that was very good, other stuff that wasn't good, so it also has an impact on lap times. As I said, probably if you look right now, Mercedes is at the top just because every time they go out, fairly quick, with ease, whereas others I think need to stretch a bit more. But we will see."

Of course, the real answer on how Ferrari stacks up will come in Melbourne. A year ago, Ferrari headed to the Australian Grand Prix convinced it was ahead, and fell at the first hurdle. This year it thinks it is behind, which will mean a different approach.

Vettel adds: "We would like to be in a stronger position now, but also it's fair to say that the season is very long, and it's very fair to say that we didn't even start.

"So I think we need to look at ourselves. We have plenty of work to do. The car is a step forward as I said. We know we can improve it from where we are, so time will tell is probably the best answer."

It's that knuckling down for work, and the need to drive car development forward, that is perhaps one of the main motivators behind Ferrari viewing Vettel as its number one choice to partner Leclerc.

"He comes with a lot of experience being world champion," says Binotto of Vettel. "I think he's a great leader in the team: his engineering team, with engineers, with his team-mate as well, which is important.

"And he's always trying to push ourselves to our best. He is someone indicating as well in the organisation what he feels is not going right or where we should improve, which is not only a matter of driving but we try to help the entire team to improve itself. So he is demanding and what is important for the team. And that is a key attitude."

Asked if he was a demanding employee, Vettel smiles. "I think I can be annoying as well," he says. "So there's a fine line between demanding and annoying."

Those are things he clearly wants to continue being, even if Ferrari has a fight on its hand to recover from where it is right now.