Formula 1 | Ex-driver counts on Sebastian Vettel: “Not the driver he was before”

Broadside against Sebastian Vettel: Ex-Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson believes that the Heppenheimer can no longer be compared with the driver who won four world titles a few years ago. In the eyes of the Englishman, this has to do with both the material and the skills of the Aston Martin driver.

For him, too, Sebastian Vettel is no longer one of the five best drivers in Formula 1, Davidson replied.Motorsport.com” when asked where he would classify the Heppenheimer in terms of performance.

In the eyes of the Englishman, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Sainz and Norris are at least five drivers in the hierarchy ahead of the four-time world champion from Germany. Martin Brundle made a similar statement a few weeks ago, who also no longer counted Vettel among the best pilots in the premier class.

Overall, the past season was up and down for Vettel, judged Davidson. “Some routes suited him better, others less. But overall I saw a driver who felt more comfortable in his own skin,” the ex-driver sees a slight upward trend compared to Vettel’s last Ferrari year.

Vettel “not the driver he was before”

But the knot at Heppenheimer didn’t really burst in 2021 either. Davidson is not surprised. “I have the feeling that he never really felt comfortable in the bigger and heavier cars that came into Formula 1 in 2014. In my opinion he hasn’t been the driver he was before since then,” he said Englishman a harsh judgement.

Although Vettel was at the front in his first Ferrari years, Davidson restricted, “but I saw a difference to these fantastic years at Red Bull”. The former Formula 1 driver complained that the light and more agile cars of the past would have suited his driving style “much better”.

Now he is very curious how the Heppenheimer will do in 2022, said Davidson. “The cars are getting a little heavier again, but they will generate more contact pressure,” he can imagine that Vettel will be more accommodating. Either way, one thing is clear for Davidson with regard to the German: “He has to be more consistent next season.”