Mark Webber, a former team-mate of Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, has said he believes the four-time World Champion is still “tired” from the six years he spent at Ferrari.
Vettel joined Aston Martin for the 2021 F1 season, and many in the paddock had tipped him to benefit from the change of environment, especially after his very difficult final season with Ferrari.
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Like most other drivers who joined new teams this year, Vettel is yet to get to grips with his new car and has been outperformed by his team-mate.
Commenting on Vettel’s performance in his first two races with Aston Martin, Webber said he believes the German’s confidence is “incredibly low” at the moment.
“I think his confidence is incredibly low now,” Webber said.
“His time at Ferrari didn’t work out for him. Sport puts men and women to the test sometimes, but in his case it was a very long period of time.
“I think the standards of these cars don’t suit Sebastian very well, they are not his type of car. He likes cars with a lot of grip, a lot of downforce and he is a very delicate driver, with a lot of feeling with the car.
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“Remember Monza in the rain with the Toro Rosso? It was unbelievable, he got away from everyone that day. But when there is less grip, with the Pirelli… the cars now give you less confidence and the rules don’t suit him.
“That’s a problem for him, but it’s about being good with all the rules, look at Hamilton, he’s strong all the time.
“I think the stars have aligned against him. And he’s getting tired, he put a lot of effort into Ferrari,” he added.
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Continuing, Webber insisted that he wants to see Vettel succeed and denied the suggestion that there are any hard feelings between the pair, as there were some tense moments when they were team-mates at Red Bull (such as when Vettel refused to follow team orders at the 2013 Malaysian GP.)
“I don’t like it. People think I enjoy watching him suffer and no, I’m not happy,” Webber said.
“I want to see him do well because it’s very strange to see him so different from how he was.
“But this is F1, we can’t not complain about the drivers who don’t perform. It’s the top, we have to celebrate drivers like Norris, Leclerc or Max performing well.
“If you are a driver who is at the end of his career, or who is suffering… you also have to talk about it,” he concluded.
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