Sebastian Vettel has accepted that Ferrari has made life “a bit too easy” for Mercedes in recent events, but backed his team and its “incredible spirit”.
Vettel led the 2018 Formula 1 standings after the British Grand Prix, which marked his fourth win of the year, but his and Ferrari’s season has crumbled in the events since.
Vettel has won only once, in Belgium, compared to the six wins amassed by Lewis Hamilton, whose points advantage has grown from 14 to 67 in the course of just four events.
Vettel has only finished on the podium three times during that seven-race spell, having been involved in a series of incidents and setbacks.
“Obviously there is still a chance,” said Vettel of his title ambitions.
“At the last couple of races we made it a bit too easy for them but also credit to them as they executed well, which is the name of the game.
“But we need to look after ourselves and do our bit the next couple of races and then we see. But it doesn’t help when we finish sixth and they win the race.
“I think we have great potential in this team, the last weeks have been tough for us … we could be in a better place, but we are not. That’s for a reason.
“But we look forward, and even if the last weeks have been difficult, the spirit inside the team if you look at the guys and so on is incredible.
“It’s incredible how powerful they are, how strong they are and how positive they are throughout.
“I think that made this team very strong and will make this team very strong at the next race and in the future.
“We know that we still have a lot of potential to unleash but we still need to work and dig a little deeper and so on. But for now we want to prove that the last few races are not what we can deliver.”
Vettel will be mathematically out of the championship battle if Hamilton out-scores him by eight points at next weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
