Vettel enjoyed an impressive first stint in Baku to move up the order, st🐼opping at least seven laps later than his main competitors.

He rejoined in🥃 seventh pl♏ace on Lap 17 and quickly closed in on Charles Leclerc.

The German 🦋overtook Leclerc and Gasly in quick succession following the Safety Car, which was caused by Lance Stroll’s tyre failure on Lap 31.

The four-time champion moved up two positions thanks to M𒈔ax Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, allowing him to score his first podium for Aston Mar൩tin.

“It means a great deal, obviously,” Vettel said after the race. “It was a tough start for us, but it was a great race, we had good pace and that was the key. I had a good start picked up positions straight away, looked after my tyres and as soon as everyone went into the pit I had really good pace to overcut, I think Yuk🌞i, at least.

“And then the restart worked brilliantly for me, got another two positio🦩ns there. Let’s be honest, we obviously had fresher tyres that helped with warming up and switch on, so a great day and I’m over the moon.

“It’s a g♔reat podium and we didn’t expect that when we come here but even on Friday, even though we were nowhere, I was feeling quite relaxed. Yesterday we didn’t quite get it but today we did💧.”

Vettel reiterated that good tyre management was key to🌄 his rostrum appearanc🀅e.

“Strategy-wise, obviously it’s always better if you start further up but the fre�💯�sh tyre certainly didn’t hurt, because other people had put a couple of lap on their tyre in qualifying, so it helped us go longer, but we really preserved the tyres well, and I think that was the secret for us,” Vettel added. “As I said, the car felt good in the race and that was the key to progress and move forward.”