Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Aston Martin’s sensational rise into the top three this season “must be frustrating” for Sebastian Vettel, who left the team at the end of 2022 to retire from Formula 1.
Vettel joined the Silverstone-based team in 2021 after being replaced at Ferrari by Carlos Sainz, with the German having gone on to claim his first podium for Aston Martin at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that season.
Disappointingly, his podium at Baku in 2021 was his only rostrum for the side, who’ve achieved six podiums already in 2023.
When he raced for the British team, they were very much a lower-midfield team, something which has changed considerably this season.
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Aston Martin have made a remarkable start to this season and have claimed six podiums from the opening eight races, all courtesy of two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard was signed to replace Vettel, once the four-time World Champion had announced his retirement.
Alonso currently finds himself third in the Drivers’ Championship, with Aston Martin boasting third also in the Constructors’.
Aston Martin are currently performing on a par with Mercedes, who they receive a considerable number of key parts from.
They are there completely on merit, with the AMR23 being one of the strongest cars on the grid.
Had Vettel not retired, then perhaps it’d be him rather than Alonso claiming podiums at almost every round, something which will never be discovered.
Horner thinks it must be difficult for Vettel to see how well Aston Martin are doing this season given how little success they had whilst he raced for them; however, the Red Bull boss noted that if it hadn’t been for the German’s hard work, then Aston Martin “would not be where they are this year”.
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“It must be frustrating for Seb to see how well Aston Martin is doing this year,” Horner told the German magazine Sport Bild.
“He didn’t have an easy time there. But the truth is that without Seb, Aston Martin would not be where they are this year. He has his share of their success.
“And I’m sure he’s still enjoying the time with his family.”