Red Bull, Vettel: “My position in the standings is vulnerable”

Sebastian Vettel believes his Formula 1 world championship standings are “vulnerable”, despite his points lead.

The reigning champion, thanks to four consecutive victories, has recovered and overtaken Fernando Alonso in the standings and is now in command with a 13-point advantage and with three races to go.

“If we look back, India was a great race for us, but a couple of laps from the end we had a bit of sparks,” Vettel said.

“Obviously it wasn't a problem, but it doesn't take much imagination to see that it could have been.”

“If something like that happens, it doesn't matter what position you're in, you could finish the race and not score the points you were hoping for, and then the whole picture takes on a different look with the points system we've had since 2010. ”

Vettel does not believe that Red Bull has proven to be definitely the faster car, despite its winning streak.

“I think in the second stint on hard tires in India, McLaren and Ferrari were probably a little bit faster than us,” he said.

“But then I was able to benefit from the gap I built in the first part of the race.”

He added: “Jenson Button set the fastest lap at the end of the race in India. I don't know what he was doing before, but he shows that they were fast enough."

“In Japan I was very happy with the car and the balance in the race was simply fantastic. This is what allows us to put together a really fast lap,” Vettel said.

Red Bull is in position to secure the 2012 constructors' championship already in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

“It was Mark and I on the same flight, and he said it would be very bad for the manufacturers if the plane went down…” Vettel joked.

“But obviously it would be very special for us to win the championship here.”

“But to do that we have to have a good weekend and score more points than the others.”