Vettel getting acquainted with AMR21 amid 'tricky' conditions

Sebastian Vettel says Sakhir's windy conditions on Friday made for a "tricky" opening day of testing during which he focused on getting acquainted with Aston Martin's AMR21.

Vettel shared driving duties with teammate Lance Stroll, handling the morning session amid gusty and sandy conditions that didn't make life easy onboard his new Mercedes-powered car.

"In all honesty it's been quite a tricky morning because it’s quite windy and the grip was low," Vettel said.

"Obviously you had a bit of a view on TV. Everybody was fighting their car, I don’t think anybody was on holiday straight from coming back from the winter break.

"I think everybody was facing the same track conditions, but still it was very good for me to get a proper read about the car and getting used to all the new elements for me."

The German driver's fastest lap was almost two seconds slower than Stroll's best time achieved in the late afternoon in cooler and better track conditions.

But Vettel wasn't "paying great attention to lap times", insisting he still had work to do to familiarize himself with his new working environment.

"The car is different; it’s a different power unit, a lot of different switches and buttons and procedures. I need to get used to stuff like brakes, steering, the car behaviour," he explained.

"So I still think there’s quite a bit of margin for myself and improvement that I have to do on driving, just getting familiar with the car.

"It was good fun to be back in the car to be honest, it’s fun to work with the team. I enjoyed it, and more to come on the next days."

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Vettel's move to Aston Martin has given the four-time world champion the opportunity to compare his current Mercedes engine with his much decried former Ferrari power unit.

"It’s obviously different, it’s operated differently, so it's different to what I’m used to," he said of the German power plant.

"It’s mostly for me to get up to speed but in terms of performance everybody knows the strength of the Mercedes engine, so on that front I don’t think we have an excuse. I’m looking forward to that."

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