Formula 1

HEIDFELD ADVISES VETTEL TO RAISE THE BAR AGAINST STROLL AT ASTON MARTIN

Published

2 years ago

21/10/2020

HEIDFELD ADVISES VETTEL TO RAISE THE BAR AGAINST STROLL AT ASTON MARTIN

Sebastian Vettel will then be part of Racing Point, which will continue under the name Aston Martin from 2021.

Many see it as a smart decision by Vettel, as Racing Point is currently performing better than Ferrari. The former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld recognises that Sebastian can be of great value to Aston Martin.

Ex-F1 driver Nick Heidfeld thinks Sebastian Vettel will have ensured he is equal to Lance Stroll by contract at Aston Martin.

At the end of the 2020 season Racing Point will morph into Aston Martin after team owner Lawrence Stroll purchased a stake in the luxury car manufacturer.

His son Lance Stroll will of course continue with the outfit, but they chose to offload Sergio Perez in favour of Vettel for 2021, despite the fact that the Mexican racer is ahead of Stroll in Drivers’ Championship after competing in one race less than his team-mate.

Perez has played second fiddle to Stroll in 2020, receiving the updates that Stroll does only when enough spares are available, so Heidfeld is certain that Vettel will have protected himself against such treatment.

“If your teammate is also the team owner’s son, you have to be extremely careful. It is very likely that the son will be favoured by the owner,” Heidfeld is quoted by Grandpx.news.

“Perez has already complained that he only gets an update once the spare parts are ready for Lance.

“But I’m sure that Sebastian has taken precautions and has a clause in his contract guaranteeing that he is at least equal. Anything else would surprise me or even be crazy. Sebastian won’t be that naive.”

Vettel’s former colleague at Red Bull, head of their driver programme Helmut Marko, also expressed his concern over how Vettel may be treated at Aston Martin.

“When you hear that all the updates already go to Stroll junior and only when there are three copies does Perez get them, I hope that they treat him (Vettel) fairly,” Marko told Sky Deutschland.

2020 has been an extremely difficult year for Vettel. Even before the season started the four-time World Champion was told by Ferrari that he wouldn’t have a seat for 2021, and at no point during the season has he made that look like the wrong decision.

Heading into the Portuguese Grand Prix Vettel finds himself P13 in the Drivers’ Championship having scored only one point in the last three rounds.

His total of 17 is 46 points down on team-mate Charles Leclerc who has 63 points to his name this season.

HEIDFELD ADVISES VETTEL TO RAISE THE BAR AGAINST STROLL AT ASTON MARTIN HEIDFELD ADVISES VETTEL TO RAISE THE BAR AGAINST STROLL AT ASTON MARTIN