Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber believes his ex-Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel could still be prone to the kind of mental “meltdown” he had last year in Baku.
In the infamous incident with Lewis Hamilton, the German pulled alongside and banged wheels with the Mercedes having felt he was brake-tested as the cars prepared for a Safety Car restart.
That is just one of a number of moments Vettel has had during his career and, according to the Australian, there is a trend to when the 31-year-old is vulnerable.
“Sebastian has had those and does have those. I think he has a plan and often these meltdowns are outside our normal routine of a Grand Prix. So: Safety Cars,” he told the new F1 podcast.
“Abu Dhabi [in 2012] he’s been off behind the Safety Car, hitting DRS boards. We saw Azerbaijan. So it’s amazing how he has this maximum intense focus and concentration that he can do.
“Winning off pole off the front, breaking the DRS, that was his signature punch. He was deadly with that. But as soon as there was another complication that became a little more tricky.”
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Webber also recalled his first run-in with Vettel at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji when, in appalling conditions, the pair collided behind the Safety Car while running second and third.
“He just absolutely harpooned the back of me, Sebastian and I went out. I know Seb was bawling his eyes out after that, he was shattered,” he said.
Then only 20, he was given a 10-place grid drop at the next race for the incident, only to have it rescinded as new evidence showed Lewis Hamilton, who was leading, acting inconsistently during the Safety Car period.
