As he finally opens his points account with Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel hopes Monaco will prove to be an inspiration for the team.

When, in his post-qualifying round-up, team boss, Otmar Szafnauer said "we are still hopeful of a double points finish in tomorrow's race", once could have been forgiven for assuming his comment was a little tongue in cheek.

However, a double points finish is exactly what it was, with Lance stroll finishing 8th and Sebastian Vettel, in finishing fifth, giving the team its best finish so far, and promoting it to fifth in the standings in the process.

"It was a good day, also to have both cars in the points," said Vettel, one of several drivers whose sheer experience reaped dividends over the course of the weekend.

"We have waited for that," he admitted. "It was a very important day for all of us, for the team and the guys... and a good message also for everyone back in the factory.

"Monaco always has the potential to be a special race and it came our way this weekend."

Other than his own experience, the German benefitted from the strategic call that allowed him to leapfrog Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly at the pit stops.

Despite the fact that he has finally opened his points account with his new team however, the veteran, four-time champion, isn't getting carried away.

"It's a long year," he said. "It was probably a question of time.

"Fifth, for sure, is a very strong result for us," he added. "We'll take the points and hopefully we can be similarly strong in Baku.

"It's a street circuit, even though the nature is very different, because it's very fast with one long straight line, but we'll see what we can do."

"Sebastian produced a truly impressive drive today," said Szafnauer, "finishing fifth after a tough race in which he never put a wheel wrong.

"He spent the early laps in a solid seventh place," he continued, "keeping in touch with Lewis in sixth. Then, in the pit stops, he delivered on an excellent strategy devised by our strategists and engineers to jump both Lewis and Pierre.

"Checo then jumped Sebastian but he had a net gain of two places: the outcome was P5.

"The way he exited the pit lane and held off Pierre up the hill to Casino Square was white-knuckle stuff: in fact, it was the highlight of the race, and Sebastian was duly voted Driver of the Day, which was both welcome and deserved."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Monaco, here.