There was no sugar-coating Sebastian Vettel's performance in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna GP, but the Aston Martin driver nevertheless insisted his confidence "is getting a lot better".
Like in Bahrain, Vettel failed to follow teammate Lance Stroll into the top-ten shootout, the German driver outpaced again by the latter and concluding qualifying P13. The four-time world champion only blamed himself for the shortfall.
"I lost one tenth in the straight because I was quite alone in the end," he said. "But I lost also a little bit to myself, so maybe it was not the best lap, which obviously you need to make it to Q3."
Vettel's integration with his new team has perhaps been more straightforward than his adaptation to his new car. But despite Saturday's under-performance, the 53-time Grand Prix winner in search of a resurgence says his confidence level is improving.
"It’s coming," he said after qualifying. "Obviously, I’m not a very patient guy, so I don’t want to wait, but it is getting a lot better.
"On a track like this in particular you need the ultimate confidence to extract everything and I’m not yet there, but it’s only the second race. So I guess I have to be a bit more patient."
"The car is quite different to what I was used to in the past.
"There are a couple of things that nowadays, with tyres and how you set up the cars et cetera, can make quite a big difference. So that’s why I think it’s taking me a bit longer than normal.
"Obviously, in all fairness, as well if it’s for the ultimate tenths that you’re fighting in the midfield then you see the consequence straight away as well."
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