Ex-Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld has defended Sebastian Vettel, suggesting those criticising the German are doing so prematurely.

It has been asked if the four-time world champion can still hack it at the front in F1 after a tricky few years, which included being beaten in the championship by Charles Leclerc in his first season at Ferrari last year.

However, Heidfeld, who was Vettel's first F1 teammate when he debuted at BMW at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, believes that didn't reflect the true picture.

“In the races actually Vettel in my view has had the upper hand,” he told F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.

“If you look at their qualifying pace, Seb had some issues at the beginning of last year, but I think he got on top of them and they were very evenly matched. It was not like Leclerc was beating him all the time.”

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And with Leclerc still relatively new in F1 having only completed two seasons, the German also thinks people may reflect differently on 2019 should the Monegasque continue his success.

“On pure pace, I would say that Leclerc would probably improve a little more than Vettel, just by the simple fact that he is still young and learning a lot, but I think they are fairly even," 'Quick Nick' explained.

“Leclerc is obviously a fantastic driver and I never, since Leclerc arrived, said or thought that Vettel didn’t do a good job.

“I think it’s just one of those occasions when a young kid comes in who nobody has high on their list yet, and then beats the world champion.

“Therefore [many] think that Vettel isn’t a good driver, but maybe in a few years time everybody says: ‘Okay, look at Leclerc.’

“He is maybe then also a world champion or has beaten every teammate he drove against, and you can put it into a different perspective.”

Like many though, Heidfeld did acknowledge Vettel hasn't been at the peak of his performance.

“I think the most important thing for him would be to do less mistakes in races,” he said.

“That has been his biggest downside of some of the last couple of years, something he didn’t show that much in his world championship years.”