Sebastian Vettel’s career at Aston Martin formally begun on track after the four-time world champion completed his first laps for the team at Silverstone.
On a filming day with their AMR21 car after Wednesday’s glitzy launch event, Vettel shared driving duties with Lance Stroll as the newly-rebranded team completed the 100km-limited test amid mixed track conditions.
In addition to his first outing for his first new team in six years, it was also a debut experience for the German with a Mercedes F1 engine.
The majority of Vettel’s 14-year career, which has included four world championships and 53 race wins, has been spent in cars running Ferrari or Renault power.
Mercedes has generally been the sport’s benchmark power unit since the hybrid-turbo engine era started in 2014.
Vettel arrives at the former Racing Point team on the back of a disappointing end to his six-year Ferrari career, when he endured the worst full-season of his career in 2020 and finished 13th in the Drivers’ Championship.
But his new team boss is confident the 33-year-old will prove a big asset for the team as they build towards challenging for F1’s top honours in future seasons.
