Aston Martin thanks Vettel

Sebastian Vettel left Aston Martin a year ago, but team chief engineer Tom McCullough praised his influence on the design of this season’s successful car…

Tom McCullough: “Sebastian comes to us with the experience of two teams winning races and titles, with knowledge of many of the little things that determine success. And he worked very carefully and hard with us.

We often say that the driver is the best sensor in the car. In its development we use various modeling tools, a wind tunnel, a CFD system, but only the driver driving the car can say that in these types of corners we experience more problems than in others. This helps us analyze data accurately and make progress. Unfortunately we were unable to provide him with a decent car in the two years he was with us, but with his help we have taken a big step forward

It’s a shame I haven’t seen this progress, but this happens often in Formula 1. I’ve already come across this. I remember Rubens Barrichello at Williams, when he drove for us in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, doing everything he could and telling us exactly what needed to be done to make the car better. We did that and in 2012 we won the Spanish Grand Prix, but Rubens was no longer in the team, he could not benefit from the results of his work.”