Daniel Ricciardo says he has no doubts that his former team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, will bounce back from his current predicament, and all it will take is one good race.
F1's Ross Brawn compared Vettel's current season to his final year at Red Bull where he was beaten by Ricciardo and the Australian also made the same comparison, but highlighted the fact that Vettel bounced back from that tough season to win his second race with Ferrari the following year.
"He's maybe in a similar position to where he was in 2014 and he bounced back, I think, second race in 2015, I think he won in Malaysia from memory," said Ricciardo.
"He definitely has the ability to bounce back. All that’s going to take is one race."
Ricciardo reckons Vettel's recent issues might stem from his Canadian victory being taken away from him after he was deemed to have rejoined the circuit in an unsafe manner whilst leading the race, with the subsequent time penalty dropping him to second at the chequered flag.
"Obviously it probably started – I'm not trying to speak for him but at least from the outside – it probably started in Canada, obviously, the controversy there. It could have been his first win of the year and if that got done differently that might have changed the whole outcome of these next few races.
"In the past, he’s always been strong here in Singapore, so this could be the weekend for him, where he does turn it around but yeah, I think it’s just one… he’s one race away from turning it around.
"Obviously there’s a lot of things to deal with in this sport, especially when you’re at the top, it’s not just talent any more, it’s pressure, it’s head space, it’s where you’re at in your personal life and all this but you don’t lose your talent so can he still drive very fast? Absolutely. I think he’s just waiting for that weekend to put it all together and get himself back. It could very well happen this weekend."
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