F1 Pundit has a Grim Verdict on Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari driver and 4-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel is “simply broken”. Some say that he is likely to be a casualty as the new generation of Formula 1 stars take over. This Gen Next will be led by his new Ferrari teammate Charles LeClerc.

This is what racing driver and F1 pundit, Tom Coronel, believes. According to him, Vettel will struggle to mount a comeback in 2019 after falling short of Lewis Hamilton again in 2018.

Errors from Vettel and Ferrari ended up with them squandering a pace advantage over Mercedes in the middle part of last season. The mistakes also allowed Hamilton to pip the German in the race between them to five world titles.

Now, the pressure is mounting on Vettel to pose a stronger challenge. The German often spoke of his desire to see Kimi Raikkonen retained by the Scuderia.

Vettel largely had the measure of the Finn over four years together, but it remains to be seen if Leclerc will be as compliant as Raikkonen occasionally was.

“This is now a period in which the new generation will rise”, Coronel told Formule 1.

“Vettel lost the World Championship again last year and is simply broken, I’m sure he will not be able to overcome this and I hope Ferrari will give both drivers the freedom to race.

“What LeClerc showed last season was just pure class, and he scored points with ‘a bite’ regularly.

“Sauber of course drove a Ferrari engine and LeClerc has been able to take advantage of that.”

Ferrari have historically employed the Number1-Number 2 Status trick. This was actually quite effective when attempting to secure a constructor’s championship. This tactic enforced a sense of discipline and ensured both cars finished.

Being the kind of person that he is, Raikkonen would not have been particularly bothered about fighting for wins unless absolutely necessary. That was possibly why he and Vettel had an effective partnership.

But Charles LeClerc is a hungry driver who will definitely not settle for number 2 status. It can be problematic as Sebastian Vettel will not be willing to play second fiddle and be upstaged.