Sebastian Vettel has said that he is excited about the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, adding that the gap in the schedule was beneficial.
Vettel and Aston Martin endured a difficult start to the 2021 Formula 1 season in Bahrain, with the four-time world champion finishing outside the points following a collision with Esteban Ocon.
The German is yet to look fully comfortable at the wheel of the AMR21, while the team have bemoaned the impact of the new regulations on their car.
However, Vettel feels that the three week gap between Bahrain and Imola has been good for the team.
“I’m excited to get going this weekend,” he said. “It’s been good to have that little bit of an extra gap between these first two races – this year’s calendar won’t always be so forgiving – but that just gave us an extra opportunity to look at the data and understand where we need to improve the AMR21.
“As a track, Imola is a very different challenge to Bahrain: it’s a track that you can really attack, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The opinion of Vettel was largely echoed by his new teammate Lance Stroll, who described the Imola race weekend as a “fresh opportunity”.
The Canadian earned a solitary point for the team in Bahrain and will be hoping to mix it in top 10 once again in Italy this weekend.
“Imola was such a great challenge last year,” Stroll added.
“It’s an incredibly fast circuit with so little run-off – the balance between risk and reward is immense, so it’s incredibly satisfying when you get it right. As a team, I think we all wanted more last time out in Bahrain, so we’re all treating Imola as a fresh opportunity.
“We’ve seen that there’s a bunch of teams that are all extremely closely matched – so getting out of the blocks cleanly and running smoothly in every session will be vital if we want to make a difference.”