Vettel stays cool despite retirements

The German, who qualified in the top ten for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Melbourne, has yet to finish a race in 2008.

But the 20-year-old says he is not disappointed by his start to the season and is happy with his team's ability to absorb such setbacks.

Asked how frustrating the two first-lap incidents had been, Vettel replied: "I had a similar question recently, when someone asked me if I knew how many racing laps I had done this season.

"I said 40, because I remember in Malaysia I did 40 laps and in the other two races I did half a lap - so 500 metres and 1.7 kilometres! Obviously it is not the start a driver wants to have.

"But what is more important is that we have done a proper analysis. We know what we have done wrong, we know what we can improve and we know what has been good. So we have to continue doing it like that. The main target here is to the finish the race first, and then to get the best possible result in some ways."

Vettel believes that the first lap incidents he has been caught up in were unrelated and that he did not expect the trend to continue.

"Every race has its own story. Obviously if you start near the back you have the risk of having a collision. If you start from pole position you only fight the second guy and that is it, and then you have a clear track turning into Turn One," he said.

"I have had collisions in Australia and Bahrain. In Australia, unfortunately we had a problem at the start that didn't put me in a strong position turning into Turn One, and then it was really tight. I made contact with Jenson Button, and after the race he apologised and that was it.

"And then in Bahrain, unfortunately, I had another contact and I still don't know who it was! Maybe it is linked to the high headrests! Unfortunately he damaged the oil radiator and I lost the oil, and that was why there was some excitement in the first couple of laps in Bahrain.

"And then I had to retire."

Despite both Sebastien Bourdais and Vettel showing point-scoring pace in the early races of this season, the German doesn't think that STR will be able to challenge for points again until the new STR3 is introduced in Turkey, or thereafter.

"To get points, I think we are not strong enough, but the target for us is to use, first of all, our own potential 100 percent and then that should bring us into a good position," he said.

"If there is a collision at the front, or other guys struggle and retire, maybe then we can score."