Vettel: 'Don’t expect too much from us'

Sebastian Vettel has said he can’t wait to drive Ferrari’s new contender for the 2015 Formula One World Championship, the SF15-T, after today’s online launch.

“I can’t wait to get to track and see how it feels,” said Vettel, who will get his chance at Jerez on Sunday. “There’s always a lot of new things to learn,but there’s a lot of time during testing for that.

I’m confident we’re going in the right direction but it will be wrong to immediately expect a lot from us.

Sebastian Vettel

“When I arrived last year I tested the car from 2012, which was already something magical, now we can get going, to start to the 2015 season and when the flag drops in Melbourne it will feel very special. Everything is red here."

Keeping realistic about the challenge

“There’s a lot of change going on, a lot of new people in new positions, including myself, and it takes time to make proper progress but I’m confident we’re going in the right direction but it will be wrong to immediately expect a lot from us.

"We’re coming from a 2014 season where one team was very dominant, so it will be difficult from the very beginning, so for us the main target is to work together and make progress and catch up more and more.

“You have to be realistic. The most important thing is to get into the groove quickly in winter testing and make progress. It will be very difficult to fight for victories if the situation is like last year. But we're not here to finish second.”

Vettel said he was looking forward to working with new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with whom he has forged a friendship away from the circuits.

“I don’t expect any problems, he will be a difficult team-mate to beat on the track,” said Vettel. “Off the track we get on very well, it's always very straightforward, and I appreciate that with Kimi and that doesn’t often happen in Formula One.”

Vettel has also spent time learning Italian, but admits he needs time to develop there too: “I understand fairly well but I lack a little vocabulary, but I know some from my Toro Rosso days. I'm getting into it.”