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F1 Singapore GP: Vettel still fighting, teases Ferrari updates

Sebastian Vettel has blamed various issues for denying Ferrari the ability to consistently battle at the sharp end but says he won't stop pushing until the final race of the season as he hints at further updates in the pipeline.

The former F1 word champion saw his Singapore Grand Prix compromised when he picked up a technical issue at the start of qualifying and while taking on an engine change it condemned him to a back of the grid start.

Despite scything his way to fifth and feeling he was one fortuitous safety car period away from the podium, Vettel concedes situations have rarely played out in Ferrari's favour this year which have been a key factor in the lack of race wins and just six podium results to his name this season.

"I think if we get everything right then we know we have a strong package," Vettel said. "There have been a lot of races where we didn't do that; some was up to us, some was up to stuff that happened, but for sure it didn't end up so far the way we wanted and we're not yet where we want to be.

"But I think we believe in ourselves. We are not entirely where we want to be in terms of raw pace. Sometimes it's a bit better, sometimes it's worse.

"Obviously on tracks like this [Singapore] it's generally more close so we kind of expected to be competitive and then you always have a chance to win or fight for a very solid podium."

With Ferrari slipping further behind Red Bull in the battle for second in the F1 constructors' championship, Vettel is determined to maintain his charge towards the front and has teased a potential fresh boost with further updates on the SF16-H before the end of the year.

"Unfortunately it didn't turn out for both of us but I think going forward we have confidence, there are some bits coming still. We're here to fight and that's what we're going to do."

Vettel is enduring his worst run of results since joining Ferrari having scored just one podium result in the last seven races which has seen him slip to fourth in the F1 drivers' championship and 26 points behind Daniel Ricciardo.

Zdroj: crash.net