“Relentless” Vettel credited by Aston Martin for their giant step in 2023

Vettel spent two years at Aston Martin before calling time on his F1 career at the end of 2022.

It proved to be untimely, as Aston Martin started the year with the second-fastest car.

In 2023, his replacement, Fernando Alonso, finished on the podium on eight occasions.

Aston Martin performance director McCullough explained the impact Vettel had on the team.

“When he 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,” he said. 

“We often say the drivers are the best sensor in the car [when] a lot of the development you’ve got [includes] 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.”

McCullough compared it to Rubens Barrichello at Williams, whose input in 2010 and 2011, resulted in a race-winning car the following year.

“I felt for [Vettel] that he’s not really got any of the benefits of this year’s car. Over the years that often happens. I’ve been involved with that process myself in the past.

“At Williams, when we had Rubens Barrichello driving for us, he put so much work during the 2010 and 2011 seasons as far as to say: ‘This is what you need to do, this what you should be doing now on so many areas of the car.’

“The 2012 car, which unfortunately he didn’t end up driving, was the result of a lot of the hard work that he had done.”