Sebastian Vettel says he is "mostly happy" to see Aston Martin fighting among F1's front-runners just a year after he decided to leave the Silverstone-based outfit and retire from the sport.
Vettel joined Aston in 2021 after a six-year spell with Ferrari. But the German's efforts with Lawrence Stroll's team yielded but a single podium finish – in Baku during his first season with the outfit.
Last year, Vettel's best results with Aston were a pair of sixth-place finishes, again in Azerbaijan and in Japan.
Vettel departed the grid, leaving seemingly little behind in terms of opportunities to shine once again.
But Aston's transformation over the winter saw the emerald-green squad and Fernando Alonso – Vettel's replacement – hit the ground running in Bahrain, with multiple podiums following thereafter for the Spaniard.
Vettel would have been excused for feeling regretful or bitter over the turn of events, but instead, the four-time world champion is happy with how things have panned out for his former team since last year.
"I'm still very interested in Formula 1," Vettel told The Red Bulletin. "It was a bit strange at the first race but now I enjoy watching it. I know the sport inside out, I still love it.
"Maybe I see certain things differently, but I'm not sad when I look at my former colleagues, not at all."
Vettel admitted to being particularly happy to see his old rival Alonso racing among the leaders once again, even if Aston has regressed recently.
"People's initial reaction was 'That Aston Martin is fast this season must do something to you, right?'," he added.
"Ok, maybe it would be easier if the car totally sucked so I wouldn't have missed anything, but I'm mostly happy for the team and I'm happy for Fernando Alonso.
"For years he didn't have a car in which he could show his qualities. Now he can and he's immediately at the front.
"Red Bull dominates and I still have a lot of friends there. I am very happy when they win."
Earlier this year, in the wake of Aston's strong start to its 2023 se, team boss Mike Krack paid tribute to Vettel, underscoring the latter's contribution to the team's significant step forward.
"I think he has his merits in where the car is today," Krack said. "Because we had many, many meetings last year where he gave us a hint: 'Do this or do that or do not do this with the new car.'
"So, I think he has his merits in here."
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
