Christian Horner has praised Sebastian Vettel for the way he’s handled his start to the 2014 season which has been littered with reliability problems.
The four-time champion sits fifth in the championship with 60 points, compared to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo’s 83 points in third. Whilst Ricciardo has out-qualified and out-raced the German, Vettel has suffered from reliability troubles at almost every race.
Horner says the way in which Vettel has dealt with the situation is “remarkable” and he knows, having enjoyed four years of success, that tough times are bound to come around.
“He’s been remarkably mature about it to be honest with you,” Horner told reporters including The F1 Times on Tuesday.
“He’s not shallow in any way and not spitting his dummy or throwing his toys out. He’s had the majority of the problems this year. He recognises that he enjoyed a lot of success with Renault power and now isn’t the time to be giving them a particularly hard time.
“But obviously he wants to be running at the front. He doesn’t want to be retiring from grands prix or experiencing the problems that he has had. What we need with Sebastian is a clean weekend where he’s able to get the most out of the car and engine package.”
Vettel isn’t writing the season off though according to Horner.
“Not at all, not at all,” heinsisted. “We’re not even half way yet. He’s written nothing off yet. There’s still a long way to go.”
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