Struggling world champion Sebastian Vettel will get a new race engineer for the 2015 season.<\/p>\n
This year defending his fourth consecutive drivers’ title, the German has notably struggled in 2014 alongside new teammate Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n
Australian Ricciardo drove through the Mercedes shenanigans on Sunday to win his second consecutive race — his third of the season and his career.<\/p>\n
In contrast, and earning many multiples more millions, Vettel has yet to break through this season, and at the drivers’ circuit Spa-Francorchamps he finished fifth and almost a minute behind the sister car.<\/p>\n
Vettel complained afterwards of a probable car defect, telling German reporters he felt he had been sent into “war with a wooden stick”.<\/p>\n
But that is not necessarily why Vettel’s race engineer Guillaume Roquelin, known affectionately as ‘Rocky’, will no longer be in that role with the 27-year-old in 2015.<\/p>\n
“These are restructuring measures to improve the team,” Dr Helmut Marko told German television Sky at Spa, responding to the reports about ‘Rocky’ that emerged on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Team technical boss Adrian Newey is stepping back after Christmas, but Red Bull will not directly replace him.<\/p>\n
“I think that at the track in Paul Monaghan, ‘Rocky’ and Simon (Rennie) we have three very able technical people and I see no reason why they shouldn’t be able to take those decisions,” Newey had said earlier in Belgium.<\/p>\n
Germany’s Welt newspaper claims the promoted ‘Rocky’ will be replaced at Vettel’s side by Gianpiero Lambiase, currently Sergio Perez’s engineer at Force India.<\/p>\n
Marko said: “Sebastian knows who is coming — he was involved in the talks.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, despite being nominated by DTM driver Timo Glock for the now-famous ‘ice bucket challenge’, Vettel has turned it down.<\/p>\n
“I think I’ll skip the shower and just give a donation,” he is quoted by the Swiss newspaper Blick.<\/p>\n
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