Aston Martin's sporting director Andy Stevenson has revealed that the team decided to make a move for Sebastian Vettel instead of segue Perez because its rebrand to Aston Martin from Racing Point was big deal. It reminded the team of the time when in 90s Damon Hill had joined Jordan when the team had started winning races. The positive impact of the defending world champion Hill joining the former Jordan team pushed the team further in 1998 and 1999. "With the team moving into the new era and looking to take on a world championship, we had to look at the aspects that needed to be strengthened. One of them, quite simply, was we didn't have a driver who had won a championship," he told Forbes.
The 1996 world champion dethroned Michael Schumacher
"From experience, during the Jordan Grand Prix days, seeing the expertise, knowledge and experience Damon Hill brought to the team was phenomenal. It wouldn't have mattered how many hours we put into each day or how many days we put into each week, we wouldn't make up for the experience Damon brought," he added.
However, hiring Vettel was questionable because on one side they a contracted driver in Perez who had a proven track record and on the other side many believed that Vettel was far past his prime having not won a world title since 2013; through the hybrid era of F1.
"He had a very tough year in 2020, but so did Ferrari as a whole. They didn't have a car that was competitive and it's no secret they were struggling with their engine. We're looking forward to seeing how he can move the team forward internally, by guiding us in areas we're weaker than we should be. We're always willing to learn," explained Stevenson why Vettel was hired.
In 1998, he joined Jordan which today is the Aston Martin team
The effects of that are already being seen as Vettel was the driver of the day in the last two races. However, Aston Martin has fallen behind from the heights of its P4 in 2020. Floor regulations in 2021 have culled some of the advantages it had gained last year while teams like Ferrari have recovered well.
The long term plan for the team is to be in the top 3 and in five years it wants to prove its mettle by winning the world title. For that, it needs the winning mentality which is why Vettel is very important both for the morale of the team and the way the car is developed.
