Sebastian Vettel rebirth repaying Aston Martin faith - Ross Brawn

Vettel at Azerbaijan — Photo: © LAT Images

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel rebirth repaying Aston Martin faith - Brawn

Vettel scored the Aston Martin brand's first F1 podium

Sam Hall

Tuesday 8 June 2021 10:28 Updated: 19:08

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Sebastian Vettel has been described as 'a man reborn' after scoring Aston Martin's first podium in F1.

For all of his success, the four-time champion endured two lean years at the end of his time at Ferrari before being signed to lead Aston Martin's return to F1.

The team's decision was questioned, including by F1 managing director motorsports Ross Brawn, particularly after it chose to release Sergio Perez.

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The doubts grew following an underwhelming opening four races to the season., but Vettel has responded in superb style by finishing fifth in Monaco and runner-up in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix to temporarily silence his critics, including Brawn.

"Seb is having a second lease of life," said Brawn via his regular post-race column. "It’s a close call, but for me, my driver of the day [in Baku] was Seb.

"It is a real pleasure to see him get going again. Seb’s had a tough last couple of seasons.

"I was one of the people who was uncertain about the decision Aston made in signing him up, but it’s looking to be a great call because of the way he’s driving and the results he’s getting.

"He’s reborn again. He’s refreshed. There’s a different vibe about him. And it just shows how the whole psychological aspect can impact performance.

"Seb has found himself in a much more comfortable place, with the right sort of pressure and with engineers who he is learning to work with. He’s getting results and he deserves it. Bravo."

No foregone conclusions in F1

Aside from the usual frantic handful of laps surrounding the pit stops and Lance Stroll's lap-30 tyre blowout, the Baku race failed to deliver on the offerings of recent years.

That was, at least, until Max Verstappen also suffered a tyre blowout with the resulting red flag meaning the race would end with a chaotic two-lap sprint.

Brawn added: "This was a slow burner of a race, with little pockets of excitement. Everything was looking like a forgone conclusion, but one thing you can say about F1 is that there are no foregone conclusions. The closing stages were dramatic.

"Max did an imperious job, I can’t fault anything he did – and [he] was ultimately unlucky. [Race winner] Sergio [Perez] was sensational too."