Sebastian Vettel remains confident he can achieve his life-long goal of winning the Formula 1 championship with Ferrari, despite seeing his first opportunity slip in 2017.

The German at worst co-led the standings for the first 12 rounds of the year, after winning the first race in Australia, but after losing it following Lewis Hamilton's win at Monza the wheels would fall off with two retirements in the next three races, allowing the Mercedes driver to build a healthy lead and eventually secure his fourth title in Mexico.

While there was some disappointment, obviously, Vettel he is not in a rush with his project at the Scuderia and believes they are now closer than ever to achieving the success he desires.

"That's not the way I look at it, I don't count the days," he told Sky Sports when asked if he was frustrated not to finish the job this season. "I want to win the world championship for Ferrari. That's what I want. That's my goal and we have to realise that it doesn't work out this year. We still have a lot in us as a team, so that should make it easier to fight."

After Hamilton secured the title, the 30-year-old was gracious conceding it was "his year" and would then brush aside suggestions he was beaten by a superior car rather than a superior driver.

"I don't like that," Vettel said. "We had a straight fight. It was great for us this year, as well for them, but I don't want to in any way take any glory away from him. He deserves every bit of it. Two races to go, he seals the championship and he deserves to win."