Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Vettel downplays chances of Singapore repeat

Sebastian Vettel says the Russian Grand Prix is unlikely to provide a repeat of Ferrari's strong showing in Singapore.

Mercedes struggled on the soft and supersoft tyres in Singapore, while Ferrari managed to make the compounds work well and Vettel took an impressive victory ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. While the same tyres have been selected for this weekend's race, Vettel warns Ferrari is unlikely to be able to match its performance advantage.

"I think it will be quite different," Vettel said. "Obviously it is a completely different track and other than the compounds I don’t think there are many similarities, but if the result is the same I won’t mind.

"It’s a long way because it’s Thursday and first of all we focus on Friday and try to get the car in the window and go from there. I think the weather will also play a big role, because maybe tomorrow we won’t use the soft and super-soft at all. We will see.

"Anyway, it will be a difficult weekend to get everything right, and last year it was a difficult circuit to get it together and the gaps between the cars were fairly big because some people were struggling more than usual. As I said, you need to get everything right and that is what we try to focus on."

Having said he won't give up on the drivers' championship this season, Vettel hopes Ferrari can use the remaining races to ensure it has an even better chance in 2016.

"I certainly hope that we are in a better position next year with a more competitive car, but we are still in 2015 and there are still some races where we can do well and learn for next year. Of course, the target is to ultimately fight for the championship. This is not a secret, it is very clear and this is where we want to go."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.