Horner believes Vettel is struggling in the Ferrari "pressure-cooker"
F1 News
Christian Horner believes that Sebastian Vettel can't handle the pressure of driving for Ferrari. Horner, who knows Vettel well from their time together at Red Bull, said that he is "under pressure" to perform at the team and even believes that the retirement rumors could be true. Having failed to perform in qualifying, starting in 7th, Vettel will have to answer some difficult questions if he fails to get a result again today.
“With us, Sebastian was like a metronome when he was in the lead of a Grand Prix,” Horner told Press Association Sport. “He was always so strong in that position.
“He obviously looks a lot more under pressure these days as he is carrying the hopes of Ferrari in what looks like a pressure-cooker environment.”
“To get the best out of people, you have got to deliver the right environment for them – that is so important.”
Vettel is yet to win a race this season and needs to get some solid results quickly if he is going to continue to be a genuine contender this year.
“Sebastian is very much his own man,” Horner said when asked about the Germans retirement rumors. “He is a fan of the history of the sport, and like anybody, when you enjoy what you are doing, you do it that much better.
“Certainly the years that we had at Red Bull were always a lot of fun. Even when we were competing hard against formidable rivals there was always a fun factor to it."
It will be interesting to see how Vettel handles the pressure of being at Ferrari and he will hope that he can start to turn things around today at the French Grand Prix.