Former-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert believes Mark Webber has lost his ‘aggressive attitude’ from last season, an attitude which saw him fight Sebastian Vettel for race wins.
The Australian hasn’t finished ahead of his teammate, nor has he really challenged the German at any of the eight races so far this season, resulting in a 77-point deficit.
Herbert is of the opinion that if two teammates at a clearly dominant team aren’t fighting one another, then the championship is ‘realistically over’.
“Vettel has finished in front of Webber in every race this season,” he wrote in his column for The National. “It has hurt the championship as the man best placed to challenge the world champion has ultimately provided no competition.
“Back in the late 1980s, McLaren had the best car by quite some margin, but it was still exciting at the front as you had Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost taking points off each other.
“That has not happened this season and I am not sure why,” he added.
Looking back at 2010, Webber was a match for Vettel and finished just 14 points behind having taken three race wins, although there is time for Webber to play catch-up, Herbert doesn’t think he has the same level of aggression to do so.
“Webber was more of a match for the German for much of last season and that caused conflict within the team,” Herbert continued. “But we have seen none of that aggressive attitude from Webber this season.
“While the title fight is already realistically over, I still expect there to be plenty of good action between now and the end of the season and think there is still plenty to look forward to at the front.”
