"You forget he was the youngest world champion at Red Bull"

"Sebastian has been on a downward spiral in recent years, where I think it was the interpersonal factor that played a big part," Wolff hinted in an interview with Sky. The 49-year-old Austrian is talking about Vettel's last year with Ferrari.

Vettel knew before the start of the season that he would be replaced by Carlos Sainz. The German scored only one podium and finished in a colourless thirteenth place in the world championship, while teammate Charles Leclerc eventually found himself back in a solid eighth place.

The fact that results lagged last year has nothing to do with Vettel's skills, according to Wolff."I am convinced that he still has the ability to perform. He is really young, in his early 30s, and has an incredible amount of experience. You forget that he was the youngest world champion at Red Bull."

So at Mercedes they are hoping to see the Vettel of a few years ago flourish again. Wolff is not only talking about the years 2010-2013 in which Vettel became world champion in Formula 1 each time, but also about the first years of Vettel's tenure at the Scuderia. At that time Lewis Hamilton had a hard time dealing with his now 33-year old rival.