Sebastian Vettel admits he is not "driving at my best" as he struggles to overcome problems with the 2019 Ferrari.
The German four-time world champion appeared set to lead the pack this season after the Italian team set the pace in testing.
However, he has been unable to replicate that performance at the first four races as Mercedes have achieved four consecutive 1-2 finishes.
“We need stronger pace, simple as that,” Vettel told Motorsport.com.
“It seems that for us it’s more of a conscious effort to get the car in the right window, whereas maybe for them [Mercedes] it seems to click a little bit easier.
“You need the confidence in the car and I’m not there yet. I can feel that I’m not driving at my best because simply the car does not answer or does not respond the way I like and then I think it’s unnatural.
“When it’s not there [the performance], then your judgement is normally right, to not go there because you end up losing the car.
“I seem to be more sensitive at the first races than at the test. The test was really good but that’s a long time ago now. We need to look forward and improve the way we handle things, the way we work, to just get faster.”
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In addition to struggling against Mercedes, Vettel has also come under pressure from new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque, who would have won in Bahrain before an engine issue, appeared to explain that by revealing he is more comfortable with the SF90.
“At the moment I’m not so unhappy with the car,” Leclerc stated.
“We maybe need to work a little bit on our race. I think in qualifying the car felt amazing, in the race I have a little bit more balance problems. But these are small issues and I’m pretty sure if we work on it we’ll get over it.”
