Perhaps a negative turning point in his career with Ferrari, this time last year a raging Sebastian Vettel couldn't believe he had thrown away the victory at the German Grand Prix.

With slight rainfall and just 15 laps to go, Vettel's 'Prancing Horse' journeyed from a comfortable first place position, to an embedded one inside the advertisement hoardings.

After considerable verbal anger and some abuse of his own steering wheel, Vettel maintained he had experienced a positive race weekend.

“We have a strong car, so I think we can be as confident as, [or more confident], than anybody else.”

It seems unlikely he'd describe his last 12 months at the wheel with the same superlative.

In the year that followed, Vettel has seen Mercedes pick up another two championships, and blow Ferrari out of the water so far this season, leaving the German 100 points adrift before even the summer break is upon us.

Four race wins behind with only 11 GP's remaining, and a Mercedes dominance which shows little signs off budging significantly, Vettel finds himself in a frustrating position, needing to recover a significant deficit despite the promise pre-season testing displayed.

Pre-season briefly lifted Ferrari spirits, after on-track mistakes in the back half of last season in Italy, Japan and the US ended any title hopes the Ferrari team still held after the disastrous German GP.

Failure to iron out these driver errors saw high-profile mistakes from the four-time World Champion and it led to costing him points in Bahrain and Canada.

"You can't change what happened. But you can still change what will happen." - Sebastian Vettel

Despite his own shortcomings, it's evident the SF90 is not capable of competing with the Silver Arrows and with its clashes with its number one driver's racing style, the patience of Ferrari's leaders and Vettel's lust for success may soon combine in an agreement to part ways.

Despite being number one driver, Ferrari's new boy Charles Leclerc has often appeared the faster driver in race conditions, whilst only trailing the German by 0.005s on average across this season's qualifying.

The former Red Bull driver's dire 12 months has perhaps been at its worst in his most recent races, collecting just 40 points from the last four GP's; the lowest of the current top five in the driver's standings.

With Hamilton picking up over double since Formula One's annual takeover of Monaco, the gap between arguably the two biggest names in the sport has never been wider.

Despite needing a turn of fortune, Vettel remains optimistic he can progress with Ferrari.

“I always put myself under pressure, I can’t be happy if things go wrong,” he said.

“Some of the things were bigger than others. The main thing is that we keep progressing in the right way. If I get something wrong or do a mistake, I can’t be happy with that.

"The pressure I put on myself is bigger than any external factors. This has been the same as long as I can remember. It’s the most honest and straightforward way is to deal with myself, you are always your best judge, no matter what you do. Those are the rules by which I play.”

Approaching this year's German GP, it would appear almost poetic should Vettel end his disappointing 12 months with success at his home race and the track his troubles first began, however, starting at the back of the grid, it appears more likely Vettel's lack of form could extend to yet another GP.

And with his contract up at the end of the season, Vettel needs results more than ever should his move to the Italian team grant the success both parties endeavoured for.