Charles Leclerc and Ferrari give Sebastian Vettel 'double problem' - Mark Webber

Sebastian Vettel

Leclerc and Ferrari give Vettel 'double problem' - Webber

The pressure is mounting on Seb.

Matthew Scott

Friday 24 May 2019 17:39

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Sebastian Vettel's former Red Bull team-mate mark Webber says the German is under pressure on two fronts in 2019. Vettel has felt the pinch so far this year, as he contends with an uncompetitive Ferrari and the threat posed by new stable-mate Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari have been left largely helpless as Mercedes have dominated the opening five races of 2019, with a repeat likely in Monaco this weekend.

Having missed out to Hamilton in the past two seasons, Vettel now has pressure from within his own team and Webber says the German may need extra support from Ferrari.

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"Challenging times for him because of course every year that goes by you get a little bit older, and you have to reassess how your profession is," Webber told Sky Italia.

"He has a lot of experience, and it is one thing to have the problem if Ferrari are fast and winning races and you are sharing the victories with your teammate, this is one thing.

"But when you are not sharing the victories, then you have pressure because the team is not winning and then you have pressure because your teammate is there. It is a double problem.

"I believe he is still strong to do a good job and to come back to a degree. Charles is very relaxed, beautiful nature, rock star for the sport – it is what we need.

"But Sebastian still needs that last little bit of support in the team, whether it is engineering, what it is I am not sure. I still think there is an opportunity for some extra people to make this last part of the jigsaw [for him] to execute in the best way."

Webber believes continued Mercedes dominance may force Ferrari to effectively give up on the 2019 season sooner rather than later.

"Unfortunately, it looks challenging for them because aerodynamically Mercedes looks like it has found a beautiful solution for its car to be quick on all types of tracks," he said.

"They were fast enough at Albert Park, they were fast in Bahrain – although of course Charles [Leclerc] should have won that race but didn't – but generally the Mercedes is a very versatile car at the moment.

"If the season goes for the next three months like this then Ferrari will have to focus on next year's car already. If they come to Canada and they are a long way behind, then they are in big trouble."