Past mistakes tell Vettel he is his own worst 'enemy'

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Sebastian Vettel offered a surprisingly blunt assessment of his situation ahead of this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, insisting he is his own worst enemy when it comes to fighting for the title.

The German driver is once again locked in a title fight with arch-rival Lewis Hamilton, but despite the benefit of having at his disposal a car that was superior to his opponent's Mercedes, Vettel regularly threw away crucial championship points over the summer following a series of mistakes and crashes.

The Ferrari driver now trails Hamilton by 30 points in the drivers' standings and knows his margin of error has evaporated.

"I think it is pretty straightforward for me, I think the biggest enemy is me," admitted a candid Vettel.

"I think we have a great car, I have something to play with and we have all the chances to do it in our way.

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"Obviously he [Hamilton] is the leader at the moment, he's the one ahead and he is the one to beat, but I think we have all the chances and how much we could be better by now and so on is a different question.

"We still have a very good chance, and as I said, we will be our first enemy and not him as a person or them [Mercedes] as a team.

"I think we need to look after ourselves and if we do that we have a good chance to do well and win races and things look good."

Vettel underscored his blunder in Germany, when he was caught out by the rain and crashed out of the lead in the late stages of the race, as his most painful error.

"I think it is normal that you do a lot of races and some you feel you should have done better for different reasons," he said.

"I think there were also other races where we shouldn't have done so well and we did, but for sure the worst one was Germany.

"I think most important thing is that I know what happened and I can explain it and then everyone is free to have their own views on what happened.

"I would have loved to win in Germany, for sure, but I'm not too bothered and I'm generally looking forward and not focusing on what we all could have done differently to avoid what happened."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.