Exclusive – Herbert: It will be tough for anyone to close the gap on Vettel

Ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert believes that reigning champion Sebastian Vettel will be hard to beat this season after he kicked off with a win in Australia.

The Red Bull driver lead from start to finish in Melbourne and was never really troubled by his closest competitor, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

And Herbert believes it will take something special to beat the German driver this year.

He told the Weekend Sports Breakfast: “The domination of Sebastian Vettel came shining through and I think it’s going to be very tough for the other guys to close that gap at the moment, the performance of the Red Bull look very strong.”

And while Red Bull will be celebrating Vettel’s win, Herbert believes his teammate Mark Webber will be left licking his wounds after a poor race.

“He started in third and then dropped down to fifth at the end of the race,” added Herbert: “It’s going to be disappointing for him in his home Grand Prix but I think he’ll be disappointed because he was so far behind his teammate.”