“I’m hallucinating, I did not expect this when we got here,” said a jubilant Sebastian Vettel this Sunday as soon as he got out of his car. The German finished in second position in a spectacular Azerbaijan Grand Prix and signed his first podium at Aston Martin . After all they have suffered, few deserve more than Vettel their success in Baku. All this starting from eleventh position in an exhibition that served to be named for the second consecutive race as ‘ driver of the day ‘.
The weekend has been a medley of emotions for the four-time world champion. Last Friday, Sebastian Vettel was satisfied after the first two free practice sessions. Despite the Aston Martins finishing 14th and 15th, the German had a good feeling: “Despite the position, I think I felt very good with the car,” he said. However, qualifying on Saturday was not as expected on billionaire Lawrence Stroll’s team .
Sebastian Vettel failed to make the cut in Q2 and finished the Baku clock in eleventh position . While Azerbaijan is one of the Formula 1 Grand Prix where you see more overtaking, the omens were not good for the Aston Martin driver and no one expected that he could be chosen for the second consecutive race as’ driver of the day ‘and end up signing the first podium for the former Racing Points.
Podium and display
It will take a long time to forget the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The weekend was already being very exciting, with a classification with up to four red flags and maximum equality, but what happened in the race entered the history books of the Great Circus . With five laps to go, Max Verstappen suffered a puncture that caused the red flag as the Red Bull driver was close to hitting the table in the fight for the World Cup.
For the first time in the history of Formula 1, the organization decided to resume the race from the starting grid . In this way, a new race of only two laps began , something never seen before. Checo Pérez defended the first position with Lewis Hamilton threatening him just behind, but the seven-time world champion over-braked at the first corner and lost the opportunity to take the front of the World Cup.
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Lewis Hamilton’s mistake allowed Sebastian Vettel to move into second place. The German’s career was truly insane: after starting from eleventh position, good team strategy allowed him to advance to sixth position before the safety car started . Subsequently, he overtook Leclerc and Gasly and took advantage of Verstappen’s accident to start third from the starting grid at the restart. After the failure of Hamilton, he was able to hold the second position and get on the podium in Baku .
They have been rough months for Sebastian Vettel. The four-time champion suffered a lot during his last season at Ferrari and his adaptation at Aston Martin was not being entirely good. However, fifth place in Monaco and the podium in Baku – two days in which he was named ‘driver of the day’ – put him in the top 10 of the standings. Vettel smiles again .
