Sebastian Vettel took full advantage of the chaos that unfolded in Hungary to finish second on the road, but the German says Aston Martin's position in the pecking order is at the back of F1's midfield.
Vettel's P2 at the Hungaroring was his fourth top-ten finish of the 2021 season, but unfortunately the German was later excluded from the results for a fuel sample breach that Aston Martin has appealed.
Regardless of the outcome of the team's appeal, and despite a podium finish in Baku, Vettel admits its been a mixed season so far this year with Team Silverstone.
"I think we expected more at the beginning," he told Motorsport-Total.com. "Then I guess I needed some time, and things didn’t go the way we wanted.
"But after that, we got better and better.
"Of course we haven’t achieved good results in the last few races, but I think we feel much more comfortable overall than we did at the beginning."
©AstonMartin
After eleven races, Aston Martin currently sits P7 in the Constructors' standings, 20 points behind AlphaTauri but 38 points ahead of Williams.
Vettel reckons his team's position in the championship is a fair reflection of its performance level relative to its rivals.
"So, we see that it’s very tight in midfield, and if everything goes normally, we’re at the back of the midfield," he said.
"And if we perform above average, we are in the middle or sometimes even at the front, as in Baku."
While he may feel a bit disappointed by his track record with Aston so far, Vettel may take some encouragement from the praise heaped upon him after last weekend's race by F1 chief Ross Brawn.
"I have to put my hands up and say I had my doubts when he went to Aston Martin, as the end of Ferrari career was pretty disappointing for everyone – but he has had a new lease of life," said Brawn.
"He was very close to taking that victory. It’s great to see him performing like that. He made no mistakes and pushed Esteban hard.
"Sebastian is born again. He’ll be hoping for a better ultimate result next time around."
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