After six years in Ferrari red, Sebastian Vettel already feels right at home in an elegant dark green. The Hessian wants to get back to the top with the Bond brand Aston Martin.
A Bond girl led the presentation of Sebastian Vettel’s new company car, James Bond himself, alias Daniel Craig, left a greeting and football superstar Tom Brady gave the order to “spank a few butts”. It cannot be said that expectations of Vettel have noticeably shrunk after switching from Ferrari to Aston Martin.
The British luxury brand presented the AMR21 in an online show on Wednesday with a bit of fuss. Elegant British Racing Green makes the hearts of motorsport traditionalists beat faster, in the second attempt – after five mixed races in 1959 and 1960 – Aston Martin wants to lead Formula 1 with power and strategy. The cockpit is on this daring mission a four-time world champion who wants to show it all again after a few humiliations. There have been worse stories.
And Vettel willingly accepts the challenge. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t hungry for success,” said the Heppenheimer. The favorite role, at least for the season that starts on March 28th in Bahrain, is “clearly with Mercedes, that is no surprise after so many years of victories.” Vettel named his ex-team Red Bull as the first challenger. Behind that, however, things will be close, “and I expect we will be close and have a say”.
It should look even better in the medium term. His new team is growing, the introduction of the budget ceiling of 145 million dollars “suits us,” believes Vettel. “But it won’t be easy to get to the top, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Vettel: “I still have a few years in me”
It doesn’t have to be very fast either, because the Hessian initially signed a contract for three years. Aston Martin will need at least that long, according to team boss Otmar Szafnauer, to “be a real World Cup candidate”. Vettel has the necessary patience: “I still have a few years in me. How many depends on how things develop in the near future.”
His bosses are euphoric. “Our ambitions are limitless,” said team co-owner Lawrence Stroll, who is currently building a state-of-the-art factory in Silverstone. Technical director Andy Green promises that Vettel will take the decisive step forward: “Sebastian is incredibly relaxed and has integrated into the team very quickly. We will get the best out of him. He is at the height of his work, he is fully there.”
Vettel is looking forward to working with Stroll
With the team that celebrated its first victory last year under the name Racing Point, the 33-year-old is the leader with his 14 years of experience in Formula 1. Vettel does not dispute that his stable colleague Lance Stroll (22) is the son of the team co-owner: “I am happy to share my experience. Lance has often shown that he is fast. Much of what is said about him is not fair. I look forward to our comparison. “
Vettel also did not always feel that he was being treated fairly in the end. “More than 50 wins and people say you’re just average. That’s how it works,” he summed up his 2020 when he was dropped by Ferrari. Things can only get better under the British flag.
