'Mental weakness' not cause of Webber slump - Klien

Mark Webber's former teammate insists he is "100 per cent sure" the gritty Australian did not suffer from "mental weakness" in his battle alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2011.

Last year, 35-year-old Webber almost beat his young Red Bull teammate to the title, but in 2011 he won only a single race compared to Vettel's dominant eleven.

Podium: race winner Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: xpb.cc

"The brain controls the body, not the other way around," David Coulthard, referring to Webber's struggle alongside Vettel, said recently.

But another former Webber teammate, Christian Klien, disagrees with that theory.

"It is 100 per cent sure that he has no mental weakness," the Austrian, who was Webber's teammate at Jaguar in 2004, said on Austrian Servus TV.

"I've known him for several years and he has a very strong personality. He had a fantastic 2010 and started this year with a lot of confidence.

"His problems have been about anything but that," insisted Klien.

Klien, also a former Red Bull and HRT driver and a test driver with Honda and BMW, said he thinks Webber's main issue was the Pirelli tyres.

Similarly, he thinks Fernando Alonso's only problem in 2011 was the Ferrari car.

"He's definitely the most complete driver in the field," said Klien, referring to the Spaniard.