Sebastian Vettel admitted he and Aston Martin "would have hoped for a better start" after he was knocked out in Q1 during Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying.
A difficult pre-season test already left the four-time world champion playing catch up, and lady luck continued to ignore Vettel as a pair of yellow flags caused by Nikita Mazepin and Carlos Sainz left him down in 18th on the grid.
“Certainly I think there was potential to be a lot faster,” the German told Sky Sports.
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“We just made it across the line to start the lap but then had the issue obviously with the yellow flags during the lap so that made it a little bit impossible to come back.
“It is what it is now and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow."
For Vettel, this weekend was always likely to be about continuing the process of understanding the Aston Martin car and getting up to speed.
And he concedes that the process is ongoing.
“I’m learning, I think quali was good and it felt positive," he said. "Obviously, I only got a lap and a half and I think we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
"We would have hoped for a better start, but it’s what it is and hopefully we will have a good race tomorrow.
“If I panic now, would it help? Or if I was really upset? For sure I’m upset and angry that it wasn’t our fault, in a way, not to make it through, but we have to take it and do what we can to prepare for tomorrow.”
As for his expectations for Sunday, Vettel was realistic.
"We changed some things and it seemed like they would make a huge difference but we haven’t been able to prove that. So it will remain a secret until tomorrow," he told Sky Italia.
“Until now for the whole weekend we haven’t been very fast, so it will be difficult but for sure we will be able to gain some positions.”
Teammate Lance Stroll will start 10th as Aston Martin's underwhelming start to 2021 was confirmed.
