Is the Vettel-Ferrari dream heading for failure?

When Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari linked up ahead of the 2015 Formula 1 season, it was the perfect match.

After a lacklustre year with Red Bull, Vettel's reputation was tainted. A move to Ferrari provided an opportunity to remedy that.

Ferrari had just produced its worst car in over two decades and required a star driver to lead the revival.

Together, they had hopes of returning to the glory days of the early 2000s.

Both knew it would not be easy. But nearly two years into the project, things are not going well.

Ferrari has fallen back as the 2016 season has gone on. Vettel has grown more frustrated. He is making more mistakes. He is not driving to his maximum.

There are echoes of 2014, when fresh from four years of success he was seemingly not willing to put the same level of effort in. Daniel Ricciardo joined him at Red Bull and outperformed him. Vettel needed a new challenge.

Fast forward to 2016 and the same thing has happened. It's just a different team. Kimi Raikkonen, no longer the driver he once was, is putting Vettel to shame. Even team boss Maurizio Arrivabene felt compelled to break with tradition and publicly criticise Vettel in Japan. He said Vettel has to "earn" his seat beyond next season and that he should refocus on the car, rather than getting distracted by taking interest in other areas of the team.

That will not have gone down well with Vettel. But Arrivabene clearly felt something needed to be done.

The Vettel-Ferrari partnership had started so well. It had long been an ambition of Vettel's to join Ferrari. "To have your name written among the names of the world champions is special, but having it in the list of the Ferrari drivers would be special, too," he once said. "It is my dream to race for Maranello one day."

When that day came, he could not wait to get started. At the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test in 2014, he was immediately in the Ferrari garage keen to begin his new assignment (below).

He was not allowed to drive the car, but he wanted to get to know the team, understand how it worked, absorb every little scrap of information.

That strength of character and desire to succeed continued throughout 2015, Vettel and Ferrari buoyed by the turnaround in form.

Vettel stood on the podium in his first race for Ferrari, won three grands prix and led the team to second in the constructors' championship. At one stage it looked as if he might even pip Nico Rosberg to second in the drivers' standings. It was far better than had been hoped.

Expectations were reset for this year. The bosses wanted the team to provide a genuine challenge to Mercedes. That appeared possible in the early races, but opportunities, particularly in Australia, were missed. And its threat gradually faded.

Vettel admits he hasn't done well enough this season. "As much as the team wants to perform, I want to perform," he said in Japan. "I've had other races where I didn't do so, I wasn't happy with myself because there was more on the table."

He wants to win, but is he willing to put the necessary work in to be a five-time world champion?

When Vettel joined Ferrari, he had dreams of emulating Michael Schumacher and turning the team's fortunes around.

With four world titles in his back pocket, he had the talent required. But he does not build the car and relies on the technical team to get its act together. It is here that he has been let down.

Since he joined, Ferrari's management structure looks no better. If anything, it is worse.

Gone is James Allison (above), one of the most highly regarded technical directors in the paddock. His replacement is Mattia Binotto, a great engine man but no technical chief. Ferrari has switched to a horizontal structure devoid of leaders, but leaders are exactly what the team needs.

Arrivabene lacks the experience to lead the team and president Sergio Marchionne is an automotive rather than racing man.

Vettel's situation is not too dissimilar to Fernando Alonso's Ferrari tenure, which yielded no titles in five years and was nowhere close to what Schumacher enjoyed. Schumacher joined the team with Jean Todt's revolution gaining momentum. A team was built around him, with Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne.

When Vettel came in there was a new focal point but he brought no one with him, so Ferrari lacked fresh blood to build a team around him.

The concern for Vettel is that while 2015 was a strong season, it was the result of decisions made during the Stefano Domenicali regime several years previously. Domenicali is now long gone, along with many of the faces from his team.

Things can change. But it will take at least three years for technical moves to bear full fruit.

Unfortunately, the recent changes don't appear to be for the better, which means he could face an even longer wait.

At 29, Vettel still has several years of racing left if he wants to stick around. But does he really want to spend the next few seasons getting frustrated with a team that can't get its act together?

Is he as desperate to win his fifth title as Alonso is desperate for a third?

Vettel needs to give it absolutely everything, and even then it might not be enough because Ferrari may not deliver a car capable of the title. Throughout its history it has had flashes of brilliance, but many seasons of underachievement. Who is to say it won't have to endure another 21-year wait for a championship?

Vettel's contract is up at the end of next year. Beyond that, there may be a chance at McLaren from 2018 if Alonso calls it quits or Stoffel Vandoorne does not deliver and the team doesn't take up its option on Jenson Button. Hang around at Ferrari for another year and a door could open at Mercedes or Red Bull.

The Ferrari dream is not over. The likelihood is he'll stick it out for at least one more management change.

But the success of the project depends on two things: Vettel finding the strength and determination he displayed in the Ferrari garage at that Abu Dhabi test in 2014 and Ferrari sorting itself out from the top down.

Otherwise, their collective dream is destined for failure.