Vettel grateful despite Hungary miss: 'He saved this team'

After his tumultuous switch from Ferrari to Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel has silenced the critics by driving the team led by Lawrence Stroll to the podium twice already. Although his podium finish in Hungary was taken away from him due to a technical fault, Vettel sees a promising future in the team's long-term plan.

Asked by Olav Mol of Ziggo Sport, how he assesses the role of businessman Lawrence Stroll in Aston Martin's rise in Formula One, Vettel replied as follows: "He basically saved the team, a lot of jobs a lot of people that are passionate about racing."

The four-time world champion then outlined the multi-year plan of the team. "It’s also quite a transformation, if you saw where the team was a few years ago and what it is now. There’s a lot of commitment, a lot of people joining. It’s a big project, and probably the biggest project in the last couple of years in Formula 1", Vettel said. Aston Martin aims to deliver a championship-worthy car and team to the grid within the next few years, and is putting in the work to make it happen.

Easier said than done

The experienced driver also knows that actually achieving such results is the biggest challenge, but he keeps his spirits up. Vettel: "It all looks great at this stage, but it’s the actual getting of results that is most challenging. Lawrence [Stroll] is definitely very determined and the team has a great future. "