Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko doubts Mark Webber has what it takes to cope with the intense pressures of a Formula 1 title fight.

In a revealing interview with Red Bull's in-house magazine the Red Bulletin, Marko has suggested that Webber is good enough to win a few races a year, but struggles to achieve a champion's consistency.

"It seems to me that Webber has on average two races per year where he is unbeatable, but he can't maintain this form throughout the year," said Marko.

"And as soon as his prospects start to look good in the world championship, he has a little trouble with the pressure that this creates.

"In comparison with Seb [Vettel's] rising form, it seems to me that Mark's form somehow flattens out.

"Then, if some technical mishap occurs, like with the alternator for example, he falls relatively easily into a downward spiral.

"No driver remains unaffected by this, because the tension is palpable.

"In 2010, it was particularly extreme. Webber headed into the final race with better chances than Vettel, and he probably carried the disappointment of his defeat into the 2011 season, which is so easy to understand."

Marko believes that Webber has struggled to cope with the psychological challenge of Vettel arriving just as Red Bull delivered the Australian his first title-worthy F1 car.

"Something that I think is also very important is that for much of his career, Mark was never in a top team, but he was always regarded as a high flyer if he only could get into the right team," added Marko.

"Then Red Bull puts him in a car - a possible winner – and suddenly along comes this young kid and he snatches the booty from under Mark's nose.

"Psychologically it's not easy, of course; this would gnaw away at anyone's confidence. It's more than understandable."

Sebastian Vettel beat Fernando Alonso to the 2012 Formula 1 title because his Ferrari rival meddled too much in politics and psychological warfare, reckons Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.

Reflecting on the 2012 world championship battle in the latest edition of Red Bull's in-house magazine the Red Bulletin, Marko argued that Alonso got distracted by off-track aspects while Vettel focused solely on driving.

"Sebastian's driving was virtually flawless," said Marko. "But he is a phenomenon: it is always like that.

"After the summer break, his performance curve shoots up. That's what happened in previous years, too.

"I don't know how he does it, but to keep doing it cannot be a coincidence. That brings us back to his method of preparation, the way he shuts himself off from the rest of the world, so that he can still call on reserves that other drivers might not have.

"Fernando Alonso, for example, who is busy with politics and funny comments.

"Vettel ignores it all; he doesn't read the newspapers, or the internet. And that's the point, you see, we concentrate on our job: to make the fastest car and the best team possible."

Marko claimed that Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari would have been harder on his team in defeat than Alonso and current chiefs.

"I believe that there is no way old Enzo would have liked such defeat, but he would acknowledge the performance of the opposition," he added.

"And then [he] would whip his boys accordingly so they'd do everything to beat us.

"But not with such actions as we have recently experienced. Alonso is constantly involved in politics.

"I believe we saw the stress he was under towards the end of the season. Saying things like, 'I'm competing against [Lewis] Hamilton, not Vettel,' and 'I'm up against [Adrian] Newey,' these psychological skirmishes. We said, 'Just ignore him.'"

Marko says he has little time for critics of Vettel, and is not worried by speculation that his German driver could switch to Ferrari in the future.

"There is a lot of nonsense being said. 'Vettel can't overtake.' Ridiculous; just look at Abu Dhabi and Brazil. 'He is only able to win because he's sitting in a Newey car.' We have two Newey cars, so why aren't we clinching one-two at every race?

"Then the comment of the great Jackie Stewart that Vettel must go to another team to prove himself. This is said by someone who scored all his greatest successes in just one team, Tyrrell. I can't take it seriously."

Kimi Raikkonen has clarified his aversion to sophisticated Formula One simulator technology, insisting he simply "learns nothing" at the computerized wheel.

An avowed fan of idol James Hunt's bygone days, 2007 World Champion Raikkonen has always sounded unenthusiastic when asked about the simulator technology that has replaced F1's former days of expensive track testing.

That sparked rumors that, like Michael Schumacher, simulators give the famous Finn motion sickness, or that perhaps the former Ferrari and McLaren driver is claustrophobic.

Raikkonen's new team, Lotus, has now developed a brand new simulator at its Enstone base, but it appears only teammate Romain Grosjean will be at the wheel.

"I just think that I can learn nothing in the simulator," the 33-year-old is quoted by Switzerland's Speed Week.

"I learn a new track quickly, without a simulator," added Raikkonen.

Indeed, when Lotus' new simulator was up and running prior to Austin last November, Grosjean lapped the virtual circuit many times but was still immediately outpaced in real life by Raikkonen, who got his first taste of the US layout in Friday practice.

McLaren suspects its former technical director Paddy Lowe was lured to Mercedes on the promise of a "telephone number salary".

"From time to time we have all done it," managing director Jonathan Neale told reporters this week, after McLaren confirmed it has installed Tim Goss in Lowe's former role, as the 50-year-old begins a period of 'gardening leave'.

"People are prepared to pay exotic salaries and wait 12 or 18 months, or longer in some cases. That's the state of the market," he said.

It is strongly rumoured that Lowe is headed to Mercedes, where multiple sources insist he will almost certainly replace team boss Ross Brawn.

"He (Lowe) has to think about number one," Jenson Button, who has worked closely with Lowe since joining the Woking based team as world champion in 2010, said.

Button denied Lowe's departure is a personal blow.

"I didn't come here because Paddy was here, I didn't come here because Lewis (Hamilton) was here," said the 33-year-old.

"I came here because this is McLaren, with its heritage and history, and - a word we always use, but it is the truth - its 'strength in depth'."

Having also lost star driver Hamilton to Mercedes, some have suggested McLaren's similar failure to hang onto its top engineer is a major management error.

Neale insisted: "The reality is that if somebody rolls up and says 'I don't like being here, you are not paying me enough money' or whatever, then even if you have a good contract, you don't want them in the team anyway."

So with Lowe looking set to oust Mercedes' Brawn, could McLaren make a move for the former Ferrari technical director?

"Ross, by his own admission, would say he hasn't achieved what he wanted to in the last few years," answered Neale.

"He is still a fantastic guy and still well respected through the industry -- a great leader of men and a good technical guy.

"But it is about the chemistry and the blend," he added.

Honda may already be working on a formula one project for 2014.

When revealing its all-new turbo V6 'power unit' for next year near Paris on Monday, Renault's Jean-Michel Jalinier said he "definitely" expects more engine makers to enter F1 under the 2014 rules.

"That's why the number of our customers will fall in the future," he is quoted by German website motorsport-total.com, "because there are more competitors."

Honda, the Japanese marque that pulled out of F1 at the end of 2008 due to the global financial crisis, could be one such competitor.

The German-language Speed Week reports that Frenchman Gilles Simon, Ferrari's engine boss during the ultra-successful Jean Todt era, could already be working with Honda.

After leaving Ferrari, Simon worked for the FIA, but most recently he has been designing a turbo V6 for Craig Pollock's intended 2014 F1 supplier Pure.

But with Pollock's plans now collapsed, Speed Week reports that British sources suspect the newly UK-based Simon could be working on a F1 engine for Honda.

For its last F1 foray, Honda was based at Brackley, which is now the headquarters for Mercedes' similarly Ross Brawn-led works team.

It is possible Marussia will be notably missing from next weekend's coverage of the 2013 season opener.

That is because Bernie Ecclestone is yet to agree a new Concorde Agreement with the backmarker team.

The F1 chief executive said recently that he has agreed bilateral financial deals with every team, Marussia included.

But, apparently, that deal does not include provisions for images of the Marussia car and driver to be broadcast on television.

Asked by ESPN whether it is a crucial missing element for Marussia just a week before opening practice in Australia, team boss John Booth answered: "No.

"It's vital for Bernie because he won't be able to film us without it."

A team spokesperson confirmed that talks are now taking place.

"Nothing is signed yet," agreed Booth, "but it's getting pretty close now."