Vettel: Pointless to compare 2018 Ferrari with F1 rivals

Sebastian Vettel says trying to compare Ferrari’s 2018 Formula 1 challenger with its rivals’ contenders is futile at such an early stage of pre-season testing. 

The German ended a freezing second day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya by putting Ferrari on top with the fastest lap seen so far this week - a 1:19.673s. 

A rapid mid-afternoon run from Vettel edged out Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by just 0.3s, but last year’s championship runner-up is refusing to get carried away over the Scuderia’s chances heading into the new season. 

“For sure you look at the others and you compare a bit but it’s very difficult,” Vettel said. “I think we should not get into details too much because it’s a bit pointless. 

“I don’t think the next two days are going to be much better [weather-wise] but I hope next week we will know more. It’s difficult to judge knowing the conditions out there today, to stay on the track and I think others were facing similar issues. 

“Have we made a step forward in terms of performance? I don’t know yet but in terms of general operation it’s been very smooth so it’s good to come here, switch on the car and be able to run. The limiting factor was the weather.”

Both days of testing have been disrupted by unusually-cold weather in Barcelona, with low temperatures, rain and snow showers resulting in an uneventful afternoon session yesterday, while Tuesday’s planned lunchbreak was cancelled in order to provide teams with more track time. 

Despite the conditions, Vettel was pleased with the amount of mileage he was able to complete, having finished the day top of the lap charts, just two laps shy of a century. 

“Of course we are planning to do some things but first of all we try and understand the car, that’s the most important for the test. We do some important laps and a lot of mileage. That’s the key right now and later we focus on performance.”

When asked if he felt Ferrari’s SF71H was a step forward from its predecessor, Vettel replied: “I hope so but it’s very difficult to say at this stage because first of all, it’s much cooler than last year, and second, the asphalt is completely different.

"So they are two major things that make it impossible to compare at this point.”