Fernando Alonso has been part of a huge resurgence at Aston Martin as the Silverstone outfit made their way to the front of the grid during the first part of the 2023 season. He has been much more successful than the person he replaced at Aston Martin – Sebastian Vettel. Despite initial denials, as per a report by Formule1.nl, Vettel has admitted to being slightly envious of the Spaniard.
Vettel was part of Aston Martin for two years, from 2021 to 2022. The first year saw Vettel score 43 points with one podium finish, and the subsequent year, he managed to conjure up 37 points. In stark contrast, Alonso has already racked up 149 points and it is only halfway through the season.
While Alonso is finding it tough to make it to the podium as regularly as he was doing at the very beginning of the season, the Aston Martin is still capable enough to fight for points on a regular basis. With Alonso having a much better stint at the team, Vettel is jealous of his ex-colleague.
Sebastian Vettel has mixed feelings about Alonso
Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport at the end of the 2022 season and made way for Alonso to step in to his place. The move from Alpine turned out to be a brilliant one for Alonso as he managed to claim six podiums in the first eight races of the season with Aston Martin.
As for Vettel, the four-time World Champion recently revealed that his retirement would have been easier if the car didn’t start to perform like it is doing now right after he left. As per Formule1.nl, Vettel said, “Many people’s first reaction was whether Aston Martin’s speed had anything to do with me. Okay, maybe it would have been easier if the car really was worthless.”
However, the ex-Red Bull driver also made it clear that he is happy about everything that Alonso is being able to achieve at the twilight of his career. Vettel said, ” I am especially happy for the team and for Fernando Alonso.”
Vettel explained that Alonso hasn’t had a competitive car to back him up for years. Finally, he does have one and has used its full potential to show that he can still fight at the front even at the age of 42.
Aston Martin’s recent downfall
Despite the brilliant start to the season, things have gone a bit haywire for Aston Martin in recent times. Following the Canadian GP, the team has suddenly seen a massive drop in their performance and even Alonso has admitted that their pace is just good enough to fight for points.
While there has been a lot of speculations regarding the cause behind the sudden downfall, it has been rumored that the main reason why Aston Martin is not performing like they were at the start of the season is a secret FIA ban on one of their components.
Whatever it might be, the team desperately wants to regain its foothold at the front of the grid. With Lawrence Stroll leaving no stone unturned to help his team achieve that, Alonso would be the best person to lead the team back into glory.
