Sebastian Vettel had mixed feelings during the opening two practice sessions for the 2019 Australian Grand Prix as he finished second and fifth in the respective sessions.
The German was pipped to the post by rival Lewis Hamilton in Free Practice 1, after completing 18 laps the Brit held advantage of 0.038 seconds at the end of the session.
A further 35 laps came in the second practice as both drivers simulated race runs, with Vettel finishing fifth fastest with a time of 1:23.637 as he increased his pace by 0.164 seconds.
“It was fun today. Maybe we were not as fast as possibly we wanted to be and could have been, but it’s Friday, after all, so it doesn’t really matter. I am sure that by 1 December no one will remember how fast we were on 15 March!
“I am still lacking a bit of confidence, it was a tricky day for us, as it probably was for everyone.”
While there is early promise that the Ferrari has what it takes to run at the front, Vettel is far from complacent.
“We are not yet where we would like to be, not so much in terms of lap time but more in terms of car feel and handling.
“We didn’t really get into the groove and into the rhythm, which is quite important round here on such a bumpy but I think that tomorrow will be a better day and if we can get that confidence back, then there’s a lot of lap time in that.
“There were bits of the session that were really, really good and we can build on, so now it’s all about stringing it together and having a better day tomorrow. The night is long and our engineers are very smart. I am relaxed”.
