Title unattainable as customer team? 'Old-school thinking', says Vettel

The podium ambitions of the newly named Aston Martin are clear; with the distinctive green car and a Mercedes engine the team will try to go for the title in 2021. But is this possible when the team you buy the engine from is your direct competitor on the track? Sebastian Vettel thinks so.

Speaking to Motorsport.com the Aston Martin acquisition explains why he thinks concerns about an unfair title race for customer teams are dated. "I'm not worried about that, I think your fears are old school. The world has moved on. I think in the past, probably you were right. With somebody like Mercedes, I think we can trust that you get a very fair treatment. And if you are faster, then you are allowed to beat them", the German said.

Vettel continued: "As I said, this sort of mindset is way out of date. As a principle. I see where you're coming from, but I'm not worried. If we are very, very close to Mercedes, that is a very good achievement. So it will be the last thing I would worry about."

Ultimately an advantage

According to the 33-year-old driver, the purchase of the Mercedes engine will actually manifest itself as an advantage over the other teams during the season. Vettel: "The fact that we are obviously not in charge of the engine in its development and so on, and we can benefit from such a strong partner, is only to help. We can get on with the car and worry about that. I think the strongest benefit is the fact that we are powered by Mercedes."

"The Mercedes power unit is supposedly the strongest on the grid, and it will be my first time with Mercedes in Formula 1. I'm looking forward to see how they work. I already got introduced into the power unit and how it's supposed to be working and handled and so on. So I think this can only only help us."