Vettel: No reasons for concern or panic

Sebastian Vettel says it is understandable Ferrari has faltered as it bids to catch up with dominant Mercedes.

In the opening two races, Kimi Raikkonen's car failed in Australia while Vettel did not even make it to the Bahrain starting grid.

"Both were new problems and we understood the causes," Vettel told media in Shanghai on Thursday. "We are sure we have solved them."

Asked if reliability is sometimes the price of rapid development in F1, Speed Week quotes the quadruple world champion as saying: "Indeed. "To catch up to the top, we need to make larger steps. If we make some mistakes it's not dramatic, the important thing is how to react and ensure they are not repeated."

When asked if Ferrari's problems so far this year mean the 2016 title is already gone, Vettel answered, "No. We still have plenty of time, it's a very long season. There are no reasons for concern or panic," he added.

"I’ve said many times that this car allows us to ‘play’ more than last year’s car. I believe the potential is there, it is only a question of getting all the ingredients together."

"It’s no big secret that this year we didn’t have the start to the season that we had hoped for, but it is still very early in the season and the two failures we had, with Kimi in Australia and with myself in Bahrain, are related to two completely different reasons."

"In the case of my car, we have understood that a small electronic bug caused a big problem. So we had to change the engine for this race, but I am not overly concerned, since we have found the reason for the failure."

"I am confident that we can still take the fight to the Mercedes this year," concluded Vettel ahead of the race in Shanghai which he has only won once, in 2009 with Red Bull.

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