Sebastian Vettel wouldn’t have matched Fernando Alonso’s results with Aston Martin in 2023, claims Christian Danner
The F1 expert insists that Sebastian Vettel wasn't as motivated as Fernando Alonso.
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Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin got off to a great start in the 2023 F1 season. The Silverstone team’s new hiree Fernando Alonso has bagged podiums in all three races. Many speculated whether Sebastian Vettel could have managed the same results if the German had not retired last season. However, F1 expert Christian Danner has ruled out such claims.
Danner recently mentioned his opinion regarding Sebastian Vettel matching the 41-year-old’s start to the season. He said, “I’ve always been a big Vettel fan. But I don’t think so.” The F1 expert highlighted that Fernando Alonso‘s life revolves around Formula 1 and motorsport. Christian continued, “[ Alonso ] says very clearly: I have no Plan B, I am a racing driver, done. That’s a big difference.”
Moreover, Danner mentioned that the Aston Martin Performance Director could testify over the stark contrast between the two drivers. He explained, “You just have to talk to Tom McCullough. How Alonso electrifies people is insane. He has an energy and can always implement what needs to be implemented.” As per Christian, this is what was missing from Sebastian Vettel during his time at the team.
The 65-year-old mentioned that the four-time world champion could indeed motivate the team to such an extent. Although, Sebastian Vettel did not completely indulge in F1 last season. Danner stated, “This is something, what Vettel could certainly be in the approach, but last year he was so far from Formula 1, with all his bee hotels and what he did there, that he no longer had the [ Motivating the team ] as much as the Alonso still has.”
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Danner was “surprised” to see Aston Martin’s success with Fernando Alonso
Christian mentioned that Aston Martin’s newfound success could be credited to several new staff poached from rivals. Most notably, Dan Fallows from Red Bull Racing. The new staff at Silverstone worked on the data provided by Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll throughout 2022. This led to the team’s results this season. He continued, “If you remove the right people or groups of people from the engineering structure. There is no reason that they don’t work again immediately.”
Despite the rapid development at Aston Martin over the winter, Danner was still surprised to see the team’s stunning progress this season. He concluded, “Nevertheless, I was surprised and happy by the success of [ because apparently the car has something Alonso insanely likes.” Alonso has also taken two more podiums in three rounds than Sebastian Vettel’s two years at Team Silverstone.
Thus, Christian Danner reckons that Sebastian Vettel would’ve not got Aston Martin to the heights achieved by Fernando Alonso. The German driver was not as invested in the sport as his Spanish counterpart. Yet, Vettel did manage to build the team during a crucial phase for the British marquee as it laid down its foundation for long-term success.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)