Vettel not beating himself up over Aston struggles

The German has been outpaced by team-mate Lance Stroll in the first two races, having qualified 18th in Bahrain, and 13th at Imola.

Last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix proved to be a disaster for Vettel.

Both drivers had an issue with overheating brakes in the laps to the grid, but while Stroll was able to take the start from the grid, Vettel's car had to be pushed to the pitlane because repairs could not be completed in time.

In addition, he received a penalty because the team was still working on the car, with the wheels off, too close to the start.

During the race Vettel also suffered a gearbox issue, and he was told to retire the car in the closing laps.

"I think he's fine," said Szafnauer. "I think he has very high expectations. I know he has very high expectations of himself. And he will work tirelessly to get better and move up that learning curve.

"But he's not beating himself up, so to speak. He'll just take that bit of frustration, and he'll be even more determined to get up to speed quickly.

"I mean, not his fault at all that we unfortunately burned his rear brake ducts and cake tins, and then it was so close to actually replacing them on the grid without without having to start from the pitlane, and then the penalty.

"After that, he had no chance really, and that wasn't his fault."

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, on the grid

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Along with other drivers who have switched teams for 2021, Vettel has struggled to find the limits of his new car.

"Well, if the car philosophies are completely different then it does take time," said Szafnauer.

"And having talked to Checo [Perez] too, he's gone to a Red Bull, which has a different philosophy to ours. And he says the same, that it's just gonna take seat time to be able to get to those fine, fine margins of getting the most out of the car.

"And it's just that simple. The more seat time the better. Seb, because he had the penalty, he was never really in contention.

"But after he put the dry tyres on, he was doing some really quick lap times. So I think he's getting on top of the car, and it'll just get better better."