Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari: One last time in red

For six years, Sebastian Vettel did his best to win the Formula One title for Ferrari. Had he done so, it would have been Vettel's fifth title and Ferrari's first since 2007. Instead, a project that began with so much hope now ends ingloriously and unfinished.

"Twice we got close to the title, but it just wasn't to be," were Vettel's words looking back at the 2017 and 2018 season when he finished runner up to Lewis Hamilton. The last two seasons have been more of an ordeal for Vettel. The Ferrari car was no longer competitive, places were lost due to tactical errors and Vettel's teammate Charles Leclerc often left him in the dirt.

The news of Vettel's departure came in spring, and in truth it was more of a sacking. Vettel wanted to stay and talk about extending his contract, but Ferrari planned without him and signed Carlos Sainz as his replacement. His final year was accompanied by a career low finish in the drivers' championship — 13th.

Ferrari said Vettel left huge footprints at the team, said team boss Mattia Binotto. Vettel's response was a bit more sober. "We respect one another," Vettel said of Binotto to "Gazzetta dello Sport", before adding: "but there was never a love between us, and that is fundamental."

New love, new success?

Whether or not a loving bond will emerge between Vettel and his new team boss at Aston Martin, Otmar Szafnauer remains to be seen. Both have known each for years, and think highly of one another.

Szafnauer told "Sport Bild" that with Vettel, the team will learn that there's a chance to improve in every small detail. "We hope that he will teach us what we need to do to help him win four world titles."

Vettel said the move would be an adventure and they would try to reach the front group. First though, it won't be about winning the world title but rather enjoying race weekends free of frustration and full of trips to the podium.

And the conditions are good. Aston Martin - who until the end of this year are still named Racing Point - are racing on a Mercedes motor and are still using the unit that in the year before was used by Mercedes. Both Lance Stroll and the departing Sergio Perez have shown this season that it is possible to drive fast with this car.

Nevertheless, the gap to Mercedes will remain. The defending champions will likely be without competition again for the 2021 season, so long as they don't make any of their own errors.

Former champion in the "old boys club"

Aston Martin will be the fifth team of Vettel's F1 career. Since 2007, the 33-year-old has been in the big show and along with Kimi Raikkonen (41), returning Fernando Alonso (39) and Lewis Hamilton (35) makes up the old boys club on the circuit. But with age comes experience - since 2005, one of them has always won the title with the only two exceptions being in 2009 (Jenson Button) and 2016 (Nico Rosberg).

Other than keeping one another at bay, the old boys will also have to keep the young stars from claiming top spot - and more and more are starting to appear.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc (both 23) are already established and Mick Schumacher's arrival is proof that these young talents keep coming. At 21, Schumacher looks destined to compete for the world title one day. His first year at Haas will be a year of learning, but Ferrari will likely be keeping an eye on Schumacher after he joined their driver academy in January 2019.

Ruthlessness required

George Russell is just one year older than Schumacher. In 2021, the Briton will be entering his third season and showed at the Sakhir Grand Prix what he is capable of when he's in a competitive car. In 2021, Valtteri Bottas' contract ends and Russell will likely join Mercedes.

After a strong season for Alpha Tauri, Pierre Gasly (24) has earned a return to the Red Bull cockpit, where Alexander Albon has disappointed. McLaren's Lando Norris (21) and Lance Stroll (22) have also regularly picked up points this season.

No one in Formula 1 is short on confidence or ambition. The young guns will do their best to learn from the talents of the older drivers, whilst also waiting to pounce on any sign of weakness. Whoever ruthlessly seeks to find their own advantage will rise to the top in F1. The young drivers know this and will act accordingly.

And in doing so they will do just as Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel once did when they were the young drivers in the Formula One field.