Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he faces a major challenge on multiple fronts as he heads into his first season with the new Aston Martin team.
It's not just a change of scene and country to get used to and a brand new team to get to know, but differences in practically every aspect of the car and power unit he'll be using in 2021.
There's certainly been a lot to get to grips with in a very short space of time, with Vettel having just three months to prepare during the winter off-season since he departed Ferrari.
"It's just getting to know the people," Vettel told Motorsport.com at pre-season testing in Bahrain. "It's one thing to understand what they mean, obviously, and lots of different things to talk about the car.
"On the car the steering feels different because it's a different unit.," he explained. "Obviously every F1 car has power steering, but every power steering is set up slightly differently.
"It gives you a different impression, because ultimately when you drive you have the wheel in your hands and that's the feedback you get.
"The car has a different philosophy," he continued, moving on to the subject of the Aston Martin's 'low rake' concept which is very different form the chassis design utilised at both of his former teams, Red Bull and Ferrari.
"There's a lot more elements that have to come together," he explained. "It's not like there's only one thing. It's not like you have a high rake car and you just drop the rake and you are in a Mercedes, and you are in a Mercedes and you increase the rake and you drive a Red Bull.
©AstonMartin
"It's not like that. It's much, much more complex," he insisted. "It's a different team, it's a different car so it drives a bit differently. It wants to be driven differently, and with a different power unit.
"Naturally these things are different and take a bit of getting used to," he said. "It's been very interesting to me, let's put it that way.
"It's a different environment inside the car as well," he added. "The pedals are feeling a bit different and the seat is a little bit different.
"Just in terms of comfort," he said. "It's small stuff but it's the cumulative effect of all those things put together."
Vettel had a bumpy time in pre-season testing with mechanical issues meaning he completed the fewest laps of any of the full-time drivers taking part.
He still has little idea how the AMR21 will fare against its rivals from Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari when the season gets underway next week in Bahrain.
“It will be difficult to filter all the impressions because the tyres are different, the cars have changed," he said. “In terms of performance, as far as what I’ve seen, it looks to be very close.
"It depends how the car feels, if the car feels fine - but it’s relative," he added. “The car can feel fantastic but if it’s too slow, it’s painful. And if it feels horrible but it’s faster than everyone else’s then you accept it.
"We’ll find out more when we go racing."
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