Vettel: 'We're not fighting Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck!'

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel has shaken off the disappointment of losing out on the 2017 world title by looking forward to next year's campaign.

Fourth place in Mexico means that Vettel can no longer mathematically close the gap to Lewis Hamilton in the championship standings in the remaining two races of the season.

"It's hard to cross the line realising that you are not in the fight anymore," he admitted after the race. "I fought to the end, giving everything I had.

"I was still believing, but in the end it didn't happen."

The outcome means that Vettel and Hamilton are now tied on four world titles apiece. Vettel said it is that competition with Hamilton which is motivating him going into 2018.

"Only very few athletes on the planet have four world championship titles in their pockets," the Ferrari driver told Sport Bild.

"Looking at the season, Lewis was the better man and that's why he earned the title.

"But next season I will do my utmost to keep Lewis from getting the fifth title," he added. "2017 was his year, but 2018 is another story.

"You never know what will happen in the future," he pointed out. "Everything starts again from zero.

Disappointed Vettel says 'Hamilton was the better man'

"As Ferrari, we are on the right track. I firmly believe that we can be at the front in 2018.

"Tomorrow you wake up and it will be a different day. The team is growing, and there are many positive aspects. Overall, I think we are on the right path."

But Vettel has no intention of downplaying the task ahead of the scuderia.

"We have to get even better, and we will," he agreed. "After all, we know we're not fighting against Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck."

Hamilton remains a potent threat in Mercedes' arsenal. But Vettel insisted that he had no reason to 'fear' his rival.

"I am not afraid of Lewis," he said. "On the contrary, I like racing against him.

"If you win against a Lewis Hamilton, you're proud because you know that the level he drives at is extremely high."

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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.