Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger claims Sebastian Vettel has a poor track record dealing with pressure, dating back to when Daniel Ricciardo were briefly his teammate.

The German was a four-time world champion with Red Bull, but he was outdriven by Ricciardo when the Australian was promoted from Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) to the team in 2014.

Vettel then left for Ferrari, where he failed to win another world championship in six pressure-packed years, most notably in 2018, when Lewis Hamilton won eight of the final 11 races to come from behind and win the drivers’ championship.

Berger stated on the In the Fast Lane podcast that while Vettel is still a “outstanding” driver, he has a glaring stain on his career that Ricciardo first exposed.

“He never reacted well under pressure,” said 10-time Grand Prix winner Berger.

“Remember when Daniel came to Red Bull (he) was very strong and he put pressure on Sebastian? For Sebastian it was difficult to cope with it. In Ferrari it was the same thing.

“I just feel when you watch him, you feel he’s not free. He’s not relaxed enough. He’s trying to prove things that, at this moment, aren’t possible because the car isn’t good enough or his own form isn’t good enough.”

He said: “In some way it just doesn’t work out well for him. He starts to make mistakes and people start to question him.

“That’s just step-by-step more pressure, and, as I said at the beginning, he doesn’t like pressure.”

Ricciardo finished third in the drivers’ title in 2014 after winning three Grand Prix and scoring 238 points.

Vettel finished fifth with 167 points and no Grand Prix victories.

Vettel, who was forced out of Ferrari last year, currently drives for Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point).

Last weekend, he finished 15th in the 2021 season opener in Bahrain.

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