Aston Martin developing car ‘more suited to Vettel’

The Aston Martin team is working on producing a race car more suited to the way Sebastian Vettel drives.

Vettel was frustrated in his last season at Ferrari by having to drive a car that had been developed with Charles Leclerc mainly in mind, leaving the four-time world champion struggling for performance.

But with his move to Aston Martin alongside new team mate Lance Stroll, Vettel has been assured that he will find the car he will be driving this year much more to his liking.

“We have always tried to put together a car with good stability in order to meet the driver’s requirements,” team principal and CEO Otmar Szafnauer told Germany’s Speedweek publication.

• Read also: Aston Martin car ‘predominately new’ despite carry over – Szafnauer

“Every driver who has competed with us wants a racing car with a sturdy rear end,” he added. “We will make sure that we do the same for Sebastian.”

The team’s decision to replace the in-form Sergio Perez with Vettel is a definite statement of intent from Aston Martin, but not without its risks.

But Szafnauer is confident that Vettel will bounce back from his worst season in F1 last year and will be a key part in leading the former Racing Point squad to the top of the midfield battle in 2021.

“Everyone knows that Seb is one of the best drivers ever when it comes to the question of the right strategy,” he insisted in comments to Sport Bild.

And that view is endorsed by Lawrence Stroll, one of the owners of the Aston Martin F1 team.

Vettel is a four-time Formula 1 World Champion, he certainly hasn’t forgotten how to drive a racing car,” Stroll argued.

“Sebastian had a car at Ferrari that was tricky to drive and that didn’t suit his driving style,” he pointed out. “It was similar in his last year for Red Bull Racing in 2014.”

While the focus is on what Vettel can bring to the team, there are also high hopes that Lance Stroll will raise his game in 2021.

“He could very well do,” Szafnauer told Sky Sports when asked if he could finish ahead of his illustrious team mate in the driver standings. “He definitely has the talent.

“The thing that last year he lacked a bit was consistency, and that was for a bunch of reasons,” he conceded.

“Unfortunately, he caught the Covid virus and there can be a bit of a delayed hangover to that too. Not that he had Covid for long, but you’re never 100 per cent when you come back a week later from that.

“So consistency is what Lance will be working on this coming season, and he’s very well capable of doing that,” he insisted.

“Once he becomes more consistent with those podiums and pole positions and scoring points, for sure, he will take the fight to Sebastian.”

“That’s exactly what we want, to have two drivers scoring regularly. That’s what we need for us to finish in the top three.”

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