The gap between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton may now sit at 50 points after the Russian GP but the Ferrari driver insists it is not over yet.
Hamilton extended his lead by a further 10 points with his fifth win in six races, albeit in controversial circumstances in Sochi, and as a result, he can now finish second to Vettel in the final five races until Abu Dhabi and still be crowned champion.
Even so, with some potentially hazardous Grand Prix’s still to come in Japan and Brazil in particular, the German knows it isn’t over until it’s over.
“I’m clever enough, I wasn’t a genius in maths but I was clever enough to pay attention to make out for myself that it’s not getting easier if we lose points,” he admitted. “[But] I still believe in our chances, yes.
“We had to be third and settle with that for today but who knows, it takes one DNF and then all of a sudden things look different, ideally two, which I’m not wishing on Lewis but you never know what happens.
“So we need to stay on top of our game which maybe we haven’t been completely this weekend: make sure that from where we are now we focus on winning the last races.”
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The big story was the use of team orders by Mercedes to gift Hamilton victory, something that Ferrari have a strong history of doing from the days of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.
Vettel insists, however, it is all part of the game.
“Well done to both of them, they played together as a team very well,” he said.
“In their defence, all the questions – I know you guys love controversy so, therefore, ask naughty questions to them as individuals, but I think in the position they are it’s a no-brainer what they did today.
“Maybe not all the questions are justified.”