Formula 1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn believes Sebastian Vettel's ousting from Ferrari at the end of the year "must be a distraction" for the German driver.
The opening round in Austria of the 2020 season was a race to forget for Vettel who failed to make the Q3 cut on Saturday and whose Sunday afternoon was undermined by a clumsy overtaking attempt on lap 31 on McLaren's Carlos Sainz, the very man that will replace the four-time world champion at Ferrari next year.
Assessing the weekend's events for F1.com, Brawn speculates that a few demons may be at work in Vettel's head.
"It was a difficult start to Sebastian’s final season with the team," said Brawn.
"Everything must be swirling round in his head after he found out Ferrari did want to renew his services for next season.
"Sometimes, the things that put off a driver are quite subtle.
"Sebastian has appeared surprised and shocked by what has happened, and it must be a distraction, understandably so."
While questions perhaps linger in Vettel's mind, onboard footage of the Scuderia driver on Sunday revealed an SF1000 that was clearly a handful, the car snapping out of shape on multiple occasions around Spielberg's Red Bull Ring.
Brawn praised Charles Leclerc's opportunistic charge to second but nevertheless urged Ferrari to quickly get on top of its handling issues.
"Charles showed what a talented driver he is, managing his chances wisely to take an opportunistic second place," Brawn said.
"It is in these difficult races where the determination and talent of very special drivers come through.
"But Ferrari have got to quickly improve the situation otherwise it they face a very difficult season.
"They have plans to improve the car for Hungary, which is encouraging, but the start of the year is tougher than they anticipated."
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