This is Sebastian Vettel’s sixth season with Ferrari. It’s been 5 long years but Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel have failed to achieve their main goal in Formula 1. The German driver is yet to win a World Championship with Ferrari but he believes he knows the reason why the Italian team hasn’t ended Mercedes domination.

Ferrari: a 13-year wait that continues

When Fernando Alonso announced his decision to leave Ferrari for McLaren, the Scuderia was in a spot of bother. While the Alonso – Ferrari partnership got off to a good note, it didn’t necessarily end the same way. At the end of 2014, the Spaniard couldn’t care less for Ferrari and its hopes of a World Championship. For 5 years, Alonso witnessed his biggest F1 rivals win World titles and in the end, the Spaniard had just about enough.

With its star driver leaving and the team in shambles following a disastrous 2014 campaign, Ferrari needed a positive guiding force. They found that in Vettel, who arrived at Ferrari when the team was at an absolute low. In his debut season for the Maranello outfit, Seb picked up 3 glorious victories which boosted team morale.

It seemed like Ferrari had shed its weaknesses and was ready to challenge Mercedes seriously.

Sebastian Vettel opens up on the team’s main weakness

Sadly, that never happened. One of Ferrari’s biggest weaknesses is its inability to developing a car that’s consistent and competitive over the long run. Additionally, the Scuderia fail to capture and hold on to momentum over a long period of time. Vettel feels this is where the team is lacking and the reason for a barren run stretching over 13 years.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, the German opened up on the key element missing in Ferrari’s quest for glory.

“What was missing to win the World Championship? I think our auto-pilot package is still not strong enough”

“We have put passion, work, and strength in recent years. We have made many steps forward, but we miss the last one, which is the most important. It is what we are working on” Vettel was quoted by Sky Sport.

In the entire Turbo-hybrid era, Ferrari has taken a back seat while Mercedes has gone on to win every single championship on offer. It begs the question, can the prancing horse team ever conquer the Silver Arrows?