’Too early’ for bold title targets - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has urged caution as Ferrari heads into the 2016 season as a potential title candidate.

President Sergio Marchionne this week issued a bold target of nothing less than overall victory in 2016, beginning with the race win in Australia in March.

German Vettel, Ferrari’s top driver and the only competitor in 2015 able to win races against dominant Mercedes, agrees that the Maranello team made big progress last year.

"Ferrari and myself were prepared at the beginning for a difficult year," he wrote in a column for the Munich newspaper TZ. "No one expected three victories.

"But almost more important is the consistency that we had, showing that we are on the right track.

"Nevertheless, there is still much to do and we must not forget where we began. But things that were a little rough in the beginning have now become smoother.

"I think that, slowly and step by step, everything is coming together," Vettel added.

"Of course," the former quadruple world champion at Red Bull continued, "the temptation to now think big for next year is very high, but we must not forget all the little steps on the way.

"Last winter there was a big upheaval in the team with a lot of new people and many changing their position as well, so it is a process that takes time.

"Hopefully we will have a better year in 2016, but it is still much too early to make forecasts," Vettel concluded.