Aston Martin success partly thanks to Vettel: 'He gave us hints'

Fernando Alonso knows all about it: leaving a team, only to see it perform just fine after you are gone, while the guys you moved on from struggle to earn a decent result. This year, Alonso does seem to have made the right choices: his Aston Martin is Red Bull Racing's main competitor, which seems unfair on Sebastian Vettel, who competed for two years with Aston Martin and hardly made it out of the midfield.

Perhaps Vettel quit driving Formula 1 a year too early? "Well, if you've retired too early or too late, that is something you have to ask himself", Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack responded during Friday's team bosses' press conference. "I think he has his merits in where the car is today, because we had many, many meetings last year where he gave us a hint:  do this or do that or do not do this with the new car. So I think he has his merits in here."

Long-term reflection behind

According to Krack, everyone should respect Vettel's decision to end his successful career. "He reflected for a long time before he made that decision and when he made it and if we have to move on, and he has to move on. And if it's a shame for him, yes or no, this, I think you should ask him."

Recently, Krack already confirmed that the team had briefly considered asking Vettel back, at a time when there was uncertainty over Lance Stroll's availability in Bahrain. The team boss said he would not ask the German for anything out of respect for Vettel's decision.