Ferrari knows weaknesses, ready to fight

Vettel knows it is now a development race between Mercedes and Ferrari. The title is not driver vs. driver, the title is about Engineer vs. Engineer. Engineers win titles in F1, not drivers. F1 is 99% car and 1% driver.

Ferrari has identified the weak areas of its 2017 Formula 1 car and has a good understanding of how to address them to maintain its title challenge, says Sebastian Vettel.

"We've been competitive every track where we've gone," says Vettel.

"It's true that Mercedes has here and there been more competitive and we were a little bit behind.

"It's normal from track to track there's a bit of a difference.

"For drivers, some tracks we like more than others so it's the same for the car.

"It's normal it's up and down but that's not our target – we want to be the best on every track we go. That's not the case yet but we're working on it.

"We have quite a good understanding of what the car needs.

"Now we have the time to look into a couple of things with a bit more peace and calm and try to improve."

"It's a fact to say in the last couple of years we didn't have the best car and it's a fact to say in the last couple of years we weren't the strongest in developing the car," he said.

"If you look at the last three years, this year is a different story and we keep progressing.

"We've brought a lot of bits, we've seen a lot of bits of people copying ours but that's a good sign.

"It's testimony of good and hard work and the achievement that has gone into this project and we keep pushing flat-out."

"It's up to us to keep it going. I'm quite confident we have the right people.

"We know how to build a strong car and we have improved the engine this year massively so everything is going in the right direction.

"I'm confident we'll be there and fight for big points."