Vettel needs help to save F1 career - Webber

Sebastian Vettel has been advised to seek help from elsewhere – something perhaps unfamiliar to him – if he is to turn around his slumping form, by former team-mate Mark Webber.

Vettel finished below Charles Leclerc in the drivers' standings in 2019 – just the second time in the German's career that h had been bettered inside his own team over the course of a full campaign following Daniel Ricciardo's arrival at Red Bull in 2019.

The similarities of that season and the one just gone have been lost on few in the paddock.

With Lewis Hamilton's dominance showing little signs of abating, Leclerc and Max Verstappen are quickly overtaking Vettel as the main candidates to finally take down Mercedes and Webber says Vettel must operate outside his comfort zone if he is to maintain relevance.

Webber told Channel 4: "I think this is the biggest off-season of Sebastian's career.

"He's a winner and a fighter, but a small chink in his armour is that he is not a great listener.

"I think if he needs to seek some advice off people, this is uncharted waters for him because he is coming towards the end of his career, but he needs to seek all the different professional advice that he can from people who might have also been on this journey.

"That way he can understand how to unlock that new phase of passion, energy, that drive to get going.

"He's got three kids at home now, 22 races coming up next year. I don't have kids but that will be a real challenge and some of the other guys don't have that.

"It's been his worst season [at Ferrari] and he's got a big, big fight on his hands to come back next year."

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