Webber offers view on Vettel's off year

Michael Schumacher's skiing accident and the birth of his first child were contributing factors to Sebastian Vettel's miserable 2014 season believes Mark Webber.

Vettel's last season with Red Bull was marked by a clear underperformance relative to his team mate Daniel Ricciardo as the German's psych and confidence appeared to slowly erode. Pundits were quick to point to a car unsuited for Vettel as a justification for his low form, and his need to be provided with exceptional machinery in order to shine, but Mark Webber suspects the reasons for Vettel's slump may be found elsewhere.

"From the outside looking at it I think Michael Schumacher's accident really knocked him round, that really hit him, as he's very close with Michael," Webber told Fox Sports. " Also he had a child, and all of a sudden maybe lap times were not the number one priority for the first few months of the year, and then it started to snowball."

As Vettel's incitement dwindled, a drastic change of environment - a move to Ferrari - was perceived as the best remedy to revive his ambitions.

"I think the Ferrari thing deal happened pretty early, and Red Bull were not in a race-winning situation – they couldn't win off their own bat, although Daniel Ricciardo and the team did win when they had the opportunity. So all these things. When you mentally check out, when you're leading a team, it's over."

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