Marko: 'Vettel should have listened, then he might have had a better future'

With one Grand Prix already behind him, Sebastian Vettel 's arrival at Aston Martin doesn't seem to have given his career the boost he would have liked. Helmut Marko, the man who has long been his mentor and who heads Red Bull racing, regrets that his protégé has not followed his advice by opting for a season-long break.

In an interview published on Youtube with Formel1.de Marko explains his position on Vettel's team switch to Aston Martin and the mediocre results to which the driver seems to be assigned to with this team as well. 'I was of the opinion that he should have taken a year off', the Austrian begins.

The Red Bull chief continues: 'That way he can sort things out properly and figure out what he really wants. Next year the chances in the driver's market are much more favourable to return, if only he had listened.'

Wrong choice

The 77-year-old former driver also claims that his choice for Aston Martin, a Mercedes customer team, turned out to be the wrong one, as the Mercedes didn't come through the regulatory and downforce-related changes as the best team. 'Now he's in the Aston Martin, and that team is suffering now, as is Mercedes. The two cars are similar, and this race [in Bahrain] was nowhere near the way he would have liked. A break would have been better for him, that could have triggered something in him that could have possibly given him a better future for himself,' Marko said.