Aston Martin enjoyed a double top-ten finish in the Singapore Grand Prix and the associated points haul was the best result achieved by the Silverstone-based team this season, allowing it to move from P9 to P7 in F1's Constructors' standings.
Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel finished respectively sixth and eighth at Marina Bay, with both drivers steering clear of the commotion and incidents while avoiding the pitfalls of the tricky wet-to-dry conditions.
Both drivers enjoyed a strong launch off the line but Vettel's blistering start from P14 on the grid saw the German clock in P8 at the end of the first lap, two spots ahead of Stroll who had started 12th.
"I knew I had to be aggressive at the start, so after the initial bit of patience across the line, I knew I had to push, which I did," said Vettel.
"I was checking out some lines on the lap to the grid and it worked, so happy with that."
Vettel discarded his inters for a set of mediums on lap 34, but the four-time world champion believed that he could have extended his first stint which would have perhaps allowed him to remain in front of his teammate.
"I think we got a bit unlucky," he added. "I would have liked to stay out longer – we’ll have a look – but I think it wasn’t great that the Safety Car just came out, which just then banked the positions."
In the closing stages of the race, Vettel was trailing Stroll, holding on to P7, when Lewis Hamilton attempted to overtake the German only to lock up and lose track position to Max Verstappen?
That gave the Red Bull driver an opportunity to mount an attack on Vettel on the very last lap that proved successful, the Dutchman thus splitting Aston martin's drivers at the checkered flag.
"They are much faster," Vettel said. "I can see in the mirrors they were following with ease, so I was obviously a little bit stuck with Lance at times and it didn’t help that my rear tyres were not so fresh at the end.
"I had a bit of a wobble in the last lap exiting Turn 5, I knew it had to be spot on; it wasn’t quite spot on, so Max had a decent run down and they have a very strong top speed with their… car so it was difficult. I tried, but it was close."
A little further down the road, Stroll was delighted with both his performance and to see the finish line after a grueling evening.
"We’ve got like a lot of P10s this year, you know, we’ve had chances for big results, but for whatever reason things happened, never really scored, and today things just went our way," said the Canadian.
"It was a tough one, so happy to pick up a bunch of points, that’s for sure."
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