When Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the 2022 season, the thought that Aston Martin would become a top team in 2023 was unfathomable. Ever since Lawrence Stroll took over the team in 2019, he made it his priority to make them a championship-winning team.
Vettel retired, Fernando Alonso replaced him and all of a sudden, the Silverstone-based outfit started fighting for the podium places on a regular basis. With three P3 finishes for Alonso in the first three races of the 2023 season, the mood at Aston Martin currently, is jubilant, to say the least.
Three. In. A. Row.@alo_oficial everyone. 👏#AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/m7yL990y0I
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 2, 2023
Even though Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll are getting most of the attention, team principal Mike Krack insists that Vettel played a huge role in driving their success. In 2022, Aston Martin was struggling on the wrong end of the grid, often failing to make it into the top ten. Vettel used his experience to give the engineers input, which made them develop the AMR23- this year’s car.
Sebastian Vettel helped Aston Martin with ‘hints’
Even when Aston Martin was struggling, Stroll and Krack insisted that they were headed in the right direction. Behind the scenes, Vettel spent a lot of time helping the engineers with inputs on improving the car. Vettel continued to assist the team, even though he knew that he wouldn’t be driving in 2023.
Krack feels that Vettel’s contribution to the development of the AMR23 cannot go unnoticed. The 51-year-old added that the four-time world champion is a huge reason behind their early season success and Alonso’s hattrick of podium finishes in 2023.
“We had many, many meetings last year,” Krack said as quoted by RacingNews365. “Where he gave us a hint- do this, or do that, or do not do this with the new car. So I think he has his merits in here.”
Aston Martin respecting Vettel’s retirement choice
Vettel left F1 at the end of the 2022 season because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Finding a replacement for a driver as good as Vettel would have been tough had Alonso not jumped to the opportunity of filling the German’s seat.
📻 “Sebastian Vettel, you are the man!” #F1 pic.twitter.com/IhQK1paJbZ
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 28, 2022
However, fans and pundits have often wondered if Vettel retired too early. The former Ferrari driver could have fought for plenty of podiums in 2023 had he decided to stay behind, and rumors of his return also began to surface.
Krack, however, insists that neither he, nor anyone from the team contacted Vettel about making a return to F1. This is because the outfit respects the legendary driver’s decision to hang up his helmet.
