Vettel did not throw a fit – Red Bull

Formula One champions Red Bull recognised that they were well behind rivals in pre-season testing but dismissed reports that Sebastian Vettel had ‘thrown a hissy fit’ about the situation.

Four-time champion Vettel and his team have suffered a string of setbacks due to the new Renault power unit and the problems continued in Bahrain on Saturday with the German breaking down on his first lap of the day.

But team principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports News that speculation Vettel had thrown a tantrum when he first tested the car back in January was ‘complete and utter rubbish’.

“I don’t know where that came from about Sebastian,” said Horner. “He’s fine, he understands that there are issues and he is trying to help the team where he can. There has not been one raised voice, one bit of discontent. He has just got his head down and he has a huge amount of trust in the team.”

While Red Bull and some of the other Renault-engined teams have been struggling to string a significant number of laps together, Mercedes and Ferrari-powered rivals have been doing race simulations.