Vettel: It hasn’t been easy these past two weeks

Since then, by all accounts, the Reds have been toiling hard at Maranello to reel in those lost ponies and

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Vettel revealed, “The last couple of weeks have been very intense. I think we have some answers, but as always you never get all the answers because we never get the chance to go back and repeat."

“Things move on, we’re here now in Bahrain on a different track, but I think we learned some stuff about the car and ourselves that should help us to be more competitive here. I think we are not in a position to be making promises, the truth is we need to wait and see.”

It was the worst start to the season for the German since he joined Ferrari in 2015 at race he had won in 2017 and 2018. It also marked an inauspicious start to Mattia Binotto's reign as team principal.

Nevertheless, it is clear that despite the disappointment and concerns for the missing pace, Vettel is adamant that the team remains focused, “I think the team internally has been quite calm. It hasn’t been easy these past two weeks to try to understand and catch up."

"Clearly there was something we were missing, as we had a very good car at pre-season testing. We are not sure where it went for the first race so we hope we have it back and have some answers to the problems."

Most pundits have singled out the race in Australia as an anomaly, suggesting that the true pecking order will be revealed in Bahrain.

For Ferrari, there is nowhere to hide this weekend as Binotto assured the perplexed F1 world that we will see "corrections made" to the SF90 when it takes to the track in Bahrain.

“Whether we learnt the lessons will become clear here. In the end, looking back, we were slow pretty much everywhere, with the exception of high-speed corners. There was clearly something wrong with the car," explained the four-time F1 World Champion.

He added later, “I love the trophy here in Bahrain. I think it’s the best of the season. It’s big and heavy, that’s the way it should be!”