F1: Ferrari don't fear any upcoming races - Vettel

Ferrari was expected to put a strong show at the Italian Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix, but on both occasions, it was Vettel's title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes who won against the odds. Ferrari's dominating performance at Spa clearly outpacing Mercedes and Hamilton gave the fans a lot of hope and the Italian outfit were the favorites for the 2018 F1 title.

Mercedes and Hamilton's monumental performance at Singapore has put the Briton 40 points clear of Vettel in the championship standings with just 6 races remaining. In simple words, Vettel will have to win every single race and if Hamilton manages to finish second, the German will win the World Championship by 2 points.

Lewis spoke ahead of Russian GP to the F1.com "didn't expect to come here gaining ten points, we probably didn’t come here expecting to lose ten points – but, having had the race that we had, I think there’s a full justification for losing those ten points and we take it,” he said.

“Obviously, there is still a long way to go and a lot of points to score. I never believed that we had the fastest car by a big margin, as people said. I know that we have a very good car.“ Lewis said he didn't expect to come here gaining ten points, we probably didn’t come here expecting to lose ten points – but, having had the race that we had, I think there’s a full justification for losing those ten points and we take it,” he said.

“We started the season well and then we were about half a second behind in qualifying and it was crucial to get back, which we manage to – and then we had a bit of a rough time, but overall I think the speed is there but it’s a match in qualifying as much as in the race.

“Russia (where Mercedes have won every single race) has been getting better for us in the last few years, so it should suit our car as well. I don’t think we have any tracks to fear that are coming.

“Our car is working pretty much everywhere and that’s a strength of our car, so no need to be afraid of what’s coming.”

Vettel defended his team robustly in the face of questioning, as the media demanded answers for Ferrari’s struggles in both qualifying and the race in Singapore.

“We’re not playing a silly game, we’re quite serious and it’s quite tough competition, so the level of competition is very high and if you have the slightest mistake obviously there are people there who are usually there to benefit from it,” he said.

“It was not the result that we wanted and it’s a disappointment because we came thinking that we are very strong. We were but not strong enough, not as strong as we probably wanted to be in terms of raw race pace.

“We need to look forward. There are a couple of differences that are standing out about Saturday, about Sunday, things that we can learn from the others because they simply did a better job if they finish ahead of us by half a minute.”

Vettel is confident of the Ferrari package and believes it will him will give him a chance to nibble into that deficit over the course of Russia, Japan, USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari, hunting for their first constructors’ championship since 2008, now trails Mercedes by 37 points in the team standings.