Sebastian Vettel has nothing to show for his first two races with Aston Martin, but the four-time world champion insists his performance to date with his new team is not "a fair reflection" of his potential.
In Bahrain, Vettel qualified a lowly P18 in Bahrain while his Aston teammate Lance Stroll secured a spot among the top ten. The German driver's plight improved little on race day when he clumsily collided with Alpine's Esteban Ocon.
At Imola, Vettel failed again to follow Stroll into the top-ten on Saturday while his race was undermined at the outset by a brake issue that forced a pitlane start on the 33-year-old and by a gearbox problem that put an end to his struggles in the race two laps from the checkered flag.
Despite his disappointing opening track record, Vettel remained upbeat about his prospects which he believes will only improve as he puts more mileage under his belt.
"We are fighting all the other teams and they are not on holiday so it is not an easy task to catch up," he said.
"We are trying to do everything we can and I think the first two races we had are not a fair reflection of where I am, where we are, because I feel still that mileage in the car helps me get things together, to be able to string the laps together."
And more mileage will equate to a better "feel" and augmented confidence reckons Vettel.
"Mostly it is the feel of the car, getting on top of the procedures and all that and just mileage in the car," he explained.
"Obviously how the race started [at Imola] wasn’t ideal and then it was difficult to recover but I think overall it was a better job and a better feel.
"But hopefully we’ll have a clean weekend this time around."
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