Marko hopes Vettel and Ricciardo return to level

Where Helmut Marko earlier criticised the mediocre performance of his protégé Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, the Austrian also has to admit that the four-times world champion set a masterful race in Monaco, and draws the comparison with another Formula 1 driver who is having a hard time at the moment.

"I don't think you should give up already," says Helmut Marko regarding Vettel's performance in Monaco. This he says in conversation with Formel1.de. The driver managed to put a P5 to his name, scoring his first points of the season.

In an earlier interview with the medium, Marko had expressed his disappointment with Vettel's move and said he had urged the German driver to take a gap year. So now the Red Bull team boss appears to be backtracking on those statements.

Marko also draws a comparison with Ricciardo who, like Vettel, is facing some start-up problems with his new team. Marko says he is hopeful that both drivers will return to the same level: "If everything goes well then the old quality of drivers will return. I hope that will be the case with Ricciardo as well."