Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were teammates at Ferrari, and now they find themselves in rival teams fighting each other. However, the Finnish driver is happy for Vettel and defends him after achieving a podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this season.

Vettel didn’t have a great start into his new chapter at Aston Martin and many suspected that he has passed his prime. But, Raikkonen comes to defend his former teammate and praises the German for getting on the top step in Baku.

Raikkonen hopes that Sebastian Vettel can prove his haters wrong

Speaking to Motorlat, Raikkonen said, “Yeah, for sure [if he was happy for Vettel]. Obviously, it’s [taken] nothing away from us. I raced against him last year, the beginning of this year. They [Aston Martin] seem to make a step forward the last few races.

“People have been giving him a hard time for quite a long time now, so it’s nice that everything kind of went the right way. He can show that they [the critics] can maybe think twice before they say something now. I’m happy for him,” Raikkonen concluded.

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How is the German’s season so far?

The 4-time world champion joined Aston Martin at the start of the 2021 season. After coming off a horrible last season, where he only scored thirty-three points and finished thirteenth in the driver’s standings. Vettel was hoping to find himself in his new phase of life.

However, things got off to a rough start, as he didn’t even make it into the Top-10. But things start to go uphill after, he achieved a fifth-place finish at Monaco and, in the next race in Baku, Vettel scored his first podium by coming second.

At the French GP, the German had to settle for a ninth-place finish. However, after showing what he is capable of, Vettel hopes to bring a better result to the upcoming race next week in Austria.

The 33-year-old seems to have found his old mojo back and hopes to the Silverstone-based team to new heights in 2021. Do you think Sebastian can make Aston Martin a title-fighting team in the coming years? Let us know in the comments below.

Read More: After Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel Adds Another HUGE Name to His Helmet Collection