Vettel: Ferrari aren't 'back'

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari cannot be judged to be "back" until they are crowned champions in Formula 1 once again.

Vettel's victory in Singapore was the third Scuderia success on the spin, following Charles Leclerc tasting glory in Belgium and Italy. They have not enjoyed such a winning run since 2008 and a four-race streak of wins in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Turkey.

The Singapore win was also significant as the weekend performance, which included a pole position for Leclerc, suggested that Ferrari have fixed key weaknesses on the 2019 car.

But Vettel will not rest on his laurels, with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes still way clear in the championship standings.

Vettel said: "I've been around for a while now with Ferrari and I think there's only one way for Ferrari to be back, which is when we win the championship.

"That's a very harsh judgement but that's what it is, that's the reality.

"We're working very hard on that. I think this year will be very, very difficult to turn things around with the current form that Mercedes has for the last 15 races or 14 races.

"But we keep fighting because anything we learn this year will help us next year, so the bits we brought here obviously are positive in terms of also looking to next year's direction, development etc.

"But we need more, obviously we want to be the best team, which currently we are not.

"The last races have been good for us so that's great for our self-confidence inside the team for everyone, but there's still a lot of work ahead of us."

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Danica Patrick and the new American team granted entry to join F1

• 43 minutes ago

Red Bull 'offer to remove Max Verstappen F1 exit clause' prompts incredible Jos Verstappen reaction

• 1 hour ago

Fernando Alonso brutally mocked by Lewis Hamilton: 'Why are you so slow?'

• 2 hours ago

F1 boss admits team has budget cap concerns trying to hit $215m limit

• Today 17:30

F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton opens up on life-changing decision that beat his bullies

• Today 16:45

Sky F1 future uncertain after RTL merger and what it means for UK viewers

• Today 15:55