Formula 1 News: Alonso has Vettel to thank for 2023 success

The Aston Martin Formula 1 team has finally given due credit to Sebastian Vettel for having a faster car this year.

Aston Martin had an excellent start to the 2023 season. The AMR23 appeared to be a Red Bull contender in the initial stages, and the team credits ex-driver Sebastian Vettel for his inputs last year, while struggling mid-field.

Tom McCullough, the Performance Director of Aston Martin, believes Vettel should be acknowledged for his contribution to the team’s impressive season turnaround that resulted in eight podiums in 2023.

Aston Martin secured a seventh-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022 with Vettel and Lance Stroll as teammates and moved up to 5th in 2023 with Fernando Alonso and Stroll as teammates.

Even though Aston Martin’s performance faded as the season progressed because some of the upgrades the team brought did not work as intended, they had a late season resurgence.

Speaking to the media, McCullough acknowledged the work Vettel had done in 2021 and 2022 for the team.  He told RacingNews365.com:

“When Vettel joined us he came from two championship-winning teams.

“At that time, he brought a lot of small details. He was a relentless worker as well.

“We often say the drivers are the best sensor in the car [when] a lot of the development you’ve got [include] wind tunnels, simulators, offline simulation, CFD.

“A driver whose backside is connected to the car can say ‘this is the phase of these kinds of corners that I know we’re struggling maybe more than others’.

“That allows you to go dig into the data. We didn’t give him a good enough car over the two years he was here. By the end of his second year, we were making progress.”