2021 Aston Martin F1 Team

[NAPI10]

Car is not that bad in 'Race Trim' but it will be a tricky decision to keep improving performance or focus on 22 design.

[godlameroso]

What's the matter with Vettel? This car is good enough to fight with McLaren or Ferrari, but they just don't have the drivers to do it. Vettel will not lead this team, Stroll has more pace.

[Morteza]

What's the matter with Vettel? This car is good enough to fight with McLaren or Ferrari, but they just don't have the drivers to do it. Vettel will not lead this team, Stroll has more pace.

They should have brought back Hulkenberg IMHO, but Vettel being a 4-time WDC is a marketing magent apparently. Or maybe Hulk is too fast for Lance

[godlameroso]

What's the matter with Vettel? This car is good enough to fight with McLaren or Ferrari, but they just don't have the drivers to do it. Vettel will not lead this team, Stroll has more pace.

They should have brought back Hulkenberg IMHO, but Vettel being a 4-time WDC is a marketing magent apparently. Or maybe Hulk is too fast for Lance

I feel it's the latter. This is making Stroll look better, wiping the floor with Vettel.

[Scorpaguy]

I do not know, Vet's new overtaking moves seemed pretty good me:

[Nathanael F1]

That was painful to watch. It hurts being a Vettel fan.

[JordanMugen]

It hurts being a Vettel fan.

Vettel will not lead this team, Stroll has more pace.

I suspected as much, but others were not convinced:

I still Stroll will be the faster driver and team leader, or at least even with Vettel.

if stroll outperforms vettel, then he is in the league of Leclerc. it's that simple.

I suspect you'll be hugely surprised (or rather disappointed in your case) at the end of the season when Vettel will have comfortably beaten Stroll.

Will Vettel 'comfortably beat' Stroll?

Ramming into the back of Ocon for no apparent reason (just as Vettel did to Verstappen at Silverstone), is rather a strange mistake, and a surefire way to not score any points. So far, by comparison, Stroll has opened his points tally nicely even though the Aston Martin wasn't that fast.

Given the choice, I wonder if Aston Martin considered signing Alonso instead of Vettel? Even though Alonso is older, he seems to be driving very well.

[j2004p]

I do not know, Vet's new overtaking moves seemed pretty good me:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h7V8_Qzg8Xw/T ... agoo+2.jpg

I agree, I think there were glimpses of the 'real' Vettel during the race. He just needs to cut the errors.

[JPower]

I do not know, Vet's new overtaking moves seemed pretty good me:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h7V8_Qzg8Xw/T ... agoo+2.jpg

I agree, I think there were glimpses of the 'real' Vettel during the race. He just needs to cut the errors.

Easier said than done. That's one reason that he's racing for Aston right now.

Regardless, I don't think all is lost for Seb or Aston. It's a long season.

[Big Tea]

I think Vettel is sadly past his sell by date now. I thought it was a mindset he had at Ferrari, but it seems to have settled in. In all probability the team know this, but believe his positive attributes will out weigh a mediocre drive. As someone in the team said (dont recall who) he knows how to win, and is a focus for the team to head in the right direction., plus as others have said, is a sponsor magnet. If he can help set the car up as well as possible and boost the team it will be worth mediocre finishes for a few races, and he may even just 'click' back into the Vettel of old.

[raymondu999]

Otmar has basically said that a low rake concept doesn’t work so 2021 is over.

P6 in the championship if we are able to maximise it. Alonso & Ocon will be tough to beat.

Shame, they sounded rather enthusiastic so far, surely they knew from simulations this would happen.
All on 2022 then.

I think they knew what happened to their car with the floor rules. But they didn't simulate how it hit the higher raked cars, I would think.

[raymondu999]

I think Vettel is sadly past his sell by date now. I thought it was a mindset he had at Ferrari, but it seems to have settled in. In all probability the team know this, but believe his positive attributes will out weigh a mediocre drive. As someone in the team said (dont recall who) he knows how to win, and is a focus for the team to head in the right direction., plus as others have said, is a sponsor magnet. If he can help set the car up as well as possible and boost the team it will be worth mediocre finishes for a few races, and he may even just 'click' back into the Vettel of old.

I think it's too early to call. Vettel has less mileage in the AMR21 even now compared to Kimi only from testing day 3.

I think give him a few races to bed in, and a couple of "uneventful" good races to build back a confidence he seems to have lost ages ago.

I don't think his "talent" level has dropped, not yet anyways. But I do think it's a mindset thing like BT says. Whether or not he can reboot himself into a healthier, 2017-spec/RBR-spec Vettel type mindset I think we have to wait and see.

[DiogoBrand]

I don't think a driver ever loses talent. I think the biggest issue with Vettel is for him to accept he doesn't have a car and a team that will let him fight for championships. It started at Ferrari when Leclerc came and he couldn't easily be the fastest in the team anymore, it got worse with last year's Ferrari s***box, and it may get even worse now if he doesn't find a way around it.

I never thought he was as good as Alonso or Hamilton, but his performance since 2019 is depressing, even though I'm not a big fan.

[Manoah2u]

Let's not just bury the guy before he's even dead, shall we?

Vettel is still that same guy that made 4 WDC titles, and won a GP with Toro Rosso. Yes he had a car that helped him with that. Now he doesn't. Even back then he had some questionable moves from time to time. But at the same time, that same guy had a race in Brazil where he made a spin and came back all the way from the back of the field to firmly grab that WDC title.

People like to 'burn' Vettel on his non-achievements with Ferrari, but Alonso didn't get a title with Ferrari either. Anybody not looking through red glasses knows that it was mostly due to Ferrari, not mostly due to the driver(s).

Vettel still is the one that got closest to Hamilton yet in getting a chance for the WDC in the hybrid era, untill now with Max and the seemingly very capable RedBull.
Yes, Vettel made some clumsy moves - bashing into Lewis in a hotheaded maneuvre. Going berserk publically on the radio against Charlie. And making a 'rookie' mistake in Germany.

He's in a new team in a new environment and has to adapt and get up to speed, clearly. Yes, i did expect more too. Bit definately haven't written him off.
But all we had is one race weekend. Let's wait and see.

[Big Tea]

Let's not just bury the guy before he's even dead, shall we?

Vettel is still that same guy that made 4 WDC titles, and won a GP with Toro Rosso. Yes he had a car that helped him with that. Now he doesn't. Even back then he had some questionable moves from time to time. But at the same time, that same guy had a race in Brazil where he made a spin and came back all the way from the back of the field to firmly grab that WDC title.

People like to 'burn' Vettel on his non-achievements with Ferrari, but Alonso didn't get a title with Ferrari either. Anybody not looking through red glasses knows that it was mostly due to Ferrari, not mostly due to the driver(s).

Vettel still is the one that got closest to Hamilton yet in getting a chance for the WDC in the hybrid era, untill now with Max and the seemingly very capable RedBull.
Yes, Vettel made some clumsy moves - bashing into Lewis in a hotheaded maneuvre. Going berserk publically on the radio against Charlie. And making a 'rookie' mistake in Germany.

He's in a new team in a new environment and has to adapt and get up to speed, clearly. Yes, i did expect more too. Bit definately haven't written him off.
But all we had is one race weekend. Let's wait and see.

I have defended Vettel up until now, thinking he was not happy at Ferrari etc, but there comes a time it gets a bit too obvious. Just running into the back of another car when it wan not an important over take is the latest in a long line of first year driver mistakes he is making. I like Stroll and think he is well under rated by many, but surely a 4 times champ with the experience Seb has should be a class above him?

I have to admit, I would like to see 'the return of Seb' but also feel if it was going to happen it would have looked like it was on the cards in this GP, but it was not. I would like to be wrong though.