Vettel: Aston Martin upgrades a “step forward” after “best Friday” of F1 2021

Lance Stroll was given Aston Martin’s revised aerodynamic package for the Portuguese Grand Prix last weekend.

Due to only one being available, Vettel was forced to race with the older specification due to being behind Stroll in the drivers’ championship.

As the four-time world champion goes in search of his first points of the season, Vettel feels the new upgrade package is a clear improvement.

“Yeah I think it’s fair to say it probably was our best Friday,” Vettel said. “I was happier with the car. Obviously, it’s different track conditions but I think I generally felt a lot more at home. It seems to improve, it’s very tight, it’s hard to say where we’re going to be tomorrow but I think we need to look overnight what else we can find and then hopefully we can squeeze a couple of extra tenths.

“I think it’s a step forward. It’s good to tick that off, and now as I said we try to improve the package where we are now. The midfield is very tight so everything we can find will work in our favor, it’s a long race as well - it’s tough on the tyres - so lots of stuff to look for tonight.”

Vettel ended the morning session inside the top ten but narrowly missed out on it in FP2, ending the day 11th fastest overall.

After making Q3 for the first time since the 2020 British Grand Prix last time out at Portimao, Vettel is hopeful of repeating that feat in qualifying on Saturday.

“Well, I think that’s sort of the region we are targeting for and I think if everything goes well then we might get in that region,” Vettel added. “It’s going to be very, very tight, there’s a lot of cars fighting for these spots.

“So we will look at ourselves, what we can do better for tomorrow and then that’s also maximising our chances for Q3.”