With the 2021 season of Formula 1 inching closer, the big teams like Ferrari have been hosting private testing for their drivers in an attempt to bring them back into the groove. Similarly, Aston Martin are possessing a low-in-confidence Sebastian Vettel, who badly needs some time behind the wheel to regain his on-track charm.

Hence, one might question Aston Martin, why aren’t the team providing the German with a 2-year-old car, and help bring him back to form? Well, Aston Martin’s team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, had the answer.

Aston Martin are not a big team: Otmar

Speaking to AutoMotorUndSport, Otmar revealed why the team couldn’t provide Vettel with one of their older F1 cars.

Apparently, the team never holds on to their older cars because they lease their engines and transmissions. Hence, Aston Martin and their predecessors never had to freedom to keep the cars.

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Meanwhile, teams like Red Bull and Ferrari, being in a decent position in terms of wealth, never really had to lease engines and gearboxes. Hence, following each F1 season, the big guns archive their completely built cars in their headquarters.

“We are not a big team. For example, we lease our engines and transmissions. They don’t belong to us. We have to return them after the season,” he said. “So we don’t have an old, drivable car that we can give him.”

Vettel has looked entirely different since his exit from Ferrari, filled with enthusiasm, as he is eagerly waiting to start a new chapter in his F1 career.

The disappearance of the rather gloomy Vettel is good news for Aston Martin and their hopes of reviving him back into the flow.

Sebastian Vettel relying on simulator runs

With private testing off the table, Otmar revealed that Vettel will be joining the team prior to the winter testing and run the newly updated simulators with the latest changes.

“It all depends on how you can travel,” he said. “The plan is for him to come back to us before the tests. It’s only a few more weeks. We still have to update the simulator so that it can run the latest development specification.”

So far, the Vettel signing has garnered mixed responses from the F1 community and the fandom, with most of them calling for the return of the German in his Red Bull form.

But, unfortunately, there is still a lot of time to come across his actual form in reality.

So, with days in hand, where do you think Vettel will stand by the end of the Bahrain testing?

Read More: Sebastian Vettel: Everything There is to Know About his Luxurious House