Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari would be happy with one victory in 2015 as he tries to play down expectations for the new season.

Ferrari failed to win a race in 2014, with its last victory coming courtesy of Fernando Alonso in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. With the SF15-T launched on Friday, Vettel says the main focus for Ferrari is to show improvement following a winter when a number of key personnel - including Alonso - left the team.

“I think we would be happy [with one win] but of course we would be happier if we win more!” Vettel said. “We have to be realistic, there’s a lot of change that happened over the winter so I think most important is that we get in to the groove quickly in winter testing and we start to make progress.

“If the situation is like last year it will be very difficult to fight for victories but of course that’s our goal; that’s whey we’re here, we’re not here to finish second.”

With Mercedes dominating last season, Vettel is also wary that clear progress from Ferrari will not necessarily put the team in a position to win races.

“There’s a lot of change going on, there’s a lot of new people in new positions - including myself - so it always takes a bit of time to settle in until you really start to make proper progress. I’m confident that we’re going in the right direction but I think it would be wrong to immediately expect a lot of us.

“Obviously we also need to remember we’re coming from a 2014 season where there was one team very dominant so it will be difficult to be right there from the beginning but I think for us the main target is to start to really work together, start to make progress and hopefully catch up more and more as the season progresses.”

Click here for the full gallery of the first photos of the SF15-T

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Mario Isola to step down as Pirelli motorsport boss

After nearly a decade as the face of Pirelli’s presence in the Formula 1 paddock,…

5 hours ago

Verstappen insists ‘I’m definitely closer to the end’ of F1 career

Max Verstappen has never raced for the record books – and now the four-time world…

7 hours ago

Honda's 'Earth Car' was anything but earth-shattering

Honda was full of good intentions when it unveiled on this day in 2007 its…

8 hours ago

Damson Idris appointed Global Brand Ambassador for Formula 1

British actor Damson Idris is swapping the fictional cockpit for a very real role in…

9 hours ago

Ralf Schumacher questions Stroll’s ‘autocratic’ rule at Aston Martin

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has ignited a fresh storm around Aston Martin, openly questioning…

11 hours ago

Williams F1 reserve Browning escapes terrifying crash at Suzuka

Williams F1 reserve driver Luke Browning endured a terrifying high-speed crash in treacherous conditions at…

12 hours ago