While Sebastian Vettel’s chances of snatching the championship from the clutches of Lewis Hamilton were meagre, the Ferrari driver was still disappointed by today’s overall results although he believes third was a very good result overall.

– F1: Lewis Hamilton wins world title at US Grand Prix
– F1: Wolff wary of rivalry between Mercedes drivers
– F1: Ecclestone wants complete new start to F1 rules

Vettel was the underdog for a good part of the afternoon but a pitstop and change to medium tyres after 19 laps coupled with the race’s Safety Car periods eventually brought the German into contention in the last third of the race.

Indeed Vettel’s Ferrari was at one point the fastest car out on the track, and many even believed he could produce a run to the end without a second pitstop.

Alas, tyre wear eventually forced the Ferrari to pit for a set of the softer compound rubber which compromised any opportunity to battle with the faster Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Hamilton.

“I’ve got some mixed feelings really,” Vettel admitted.

“On the one hand it’s not great to lose out on the championship and a chance to hang in there, but equally it was fantastic race.”

“Starting 13th in these conditions and with I don’t know how many Safety Cars, we had a very good race. The car was great, especially in mixed conditions when we switched to dry tyres. I think we had a couple of laps when we seemed to fly, I was enjoying that alot.”

Slowly but surely, Ferrari appear to be bridging the gap with its Mercedes rival, a state of affairs which bodes well for next season according to Vettel.

“I’m not predicting anything, but we’re working very hard and making good progress. Things are looking good for next year but we first of all we have to finish the season in style, and try to learn as much as we can using all the experience from this year to keep pushing forward for next season.”