Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin adventure got off to a disappointing start on Saturday, with him struggling with the AMR21 and qualifying down in P18 for the Bahrain GP after his final lap was compromised by a couple of yellow flags.
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Speaking earlier in the week, Mark Webber, a former team-mate of Vettel’s at Red Bull, said he believes the four-time World Champion will enjoy being in a new environment, but he’s unsure if his on-track performance will improve.
“I’m a bit nervous, I must say. How many bullets has he got left in his magazine? I don’t know,” Webber said during the On The Marbles podcast.
“I think he’s going to enjoy the environment, there’s no question about that.
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“He will enjoy not being at Maranello and being in the English vibe and culture, he’s always enjoyed that, I know that for a fact.
“What that doesn’t translate to and I don’t think it will cleanly is automatic performance. I think he’s going to enjoy himself more, I don’t know how it’s going to go on the stopwatch and the stopwatch is what F1’s all about.
“So if he’s sub-par, and let’s be honest he’s not at the start of his career, if you’re mid-pack – I don’t care what colour the car is, whether you’ve changed team or whatever – mid-pack is still mid-pack, and he’s not a mid-pack guy.
“So I’m still a bit nervous about how this season will unfold for him.”
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Continuing, Webber said he is “really nervous” about how driving for a midfield team will affect Vettel’s motivation this year.
“And the team are not serial winners yet, they haven’t got the intensity about them, they’re on a journey,” he said.
“Yes he’s on that, he’s going to understand that but how is that going to go for his juices in terms of motivation and momentum? I’m really nervous.”
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