Sebastian Vettel says his 2019 Formula 1 season has been a "five out of 10", due to he and Ferrari failing to live up to pre-season expectations.
Ferrari set eye-catching pace during pre-season but Mercedes surged clear by the time the field arrived in Melbourne for the season-opening event.
Ferrari displayed potential race-winning pace at a handful of events – most notably Bahrain, Canada and Austria – but was unable to take victory on all occasions.
Vettel crossed the line first in Canada but a controversial five-second time penalty demoted him to second place.
Vettel is fourth in the championship, 94 points behind Lewis Hamilton, while Ferrari faces a 150-point deficit to Mercedes in the Constructors’ battle.
"Five, not happy with the first half," Vettel said when asked to rate his season out of 10.
"I think I struggled here and there to really get on top of the car. I think we’ve been trying a lot of things so fair enough.
"Obviously we wanted to squeeze out more so you’re always looking for more but I feel I can do a better job in the second half. And five is my number, so take five."
Vettel finished over a minute adrift of race winner Hamilton in Hungary as Ferrari’s lack of downforce, leading to excessive tyre wear, was starkly highlighted.
"I think they [the tyres] were in very poor condition at the end,” said Vettel.
"I think we stayed out another 10 or 15 laps after Charles [Leclerc] pitted, just to try to do something different, maybe hope for a safety car, but to be honest by then obviously the top two were sort of gone anyways.
"It was really for the sake of trying something different, which looked very distant to ideal when we had the stop and I came out but then I just tried everything I had and got one chance in the end.
"In the end it’s not a big deal, third or fourth for the team, it’s still the same.
"The big picture is that we were not quick enough and not able to follow them right from two laps into the race."
