Aston Martin to blame if it cannot get best out of Vettel

Aston Martin technical director Andrew Green claims the team will be at fault if it is unable to extract the best from Sebastian Vettel.

Following the signing of Vettel last season, Green famously declared that the four-time Formula 1 champion has "lost his mojo" at Ferrari given his rapid decline.

At the time, Green expressed confidence the team could help Vettel, who he also suggested was "not in a great place...in his head".

Asked whether he had seen signs that Vettel had regained his mojo after two months with Aston Martin, Green replied: "We haven't really gone into where his head was at previously because we are a team looking forward.

"He is incredibly relaxed. He has integrated into the team very quickly, his contribution started immediately and I think we are going to get the best out of Seb, I really do.

"I think he is at the top of his career. He is there, so if we can't extract the best out of Seb then it is our fault, not his. I am confident that we can get Seb in the right place."

For his part, Vettel smiled when asked a similar question. He said: "The ‘mojo’ term is not a German term so whoever the guy ‘mojo’ is, he doesn’t exist in Germany."

The 33-year-old at least concedes last season was abysmal, not helped by the fact he was informed before a wheel had turned he would be released at the end of the year.

While the differences between Ferrari and Aston Martin are considerable, he can see the latter is a team on the rise, and he is thrilled to be a part of that.

“Obviously, last year, and it is not a secret, at stages, I wasn’t at my happiest," said Vettel. "This year I am very much looking forward.

"It is a great group of people. The spirit is great, they are very enthusiastic.

“It is obviously very small compared to Ferrari but part of it is obviously the fact we are not building the engine and another part of it is that the team is still growing, so pretty much the opposite to most of the other big teams and the team I raced for before.

“Things are a bit different but it is not about the fancy look or the fancy, expensive designer chairs in the office, it is more about the work that is done behind the scenes.

"From what I have seen, the people are very capable and very talented and it is probably the first time in the team’s history, for the first one-and-a-half-two years that they are getting the oxygen to breathe.”

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