F1: Vettel Still Hopeful Of Championship Glory

REB BULL STAR Sebastian Vettel remains hopeful of replicating the feats of Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and clawing back a massive deficit in the final two rounds of the season to win the World Championship.

Raikkonen trailed rookie Lewis Hamilton by 17 points leading into the last two events of the 2007, and was seemingly out of championship contention.

However, defying all expectations, the Finn claimed back-to-back victories while Hamilton faltered to overcome his lead and secure a long awaited debut world title after near-misses in 2003 and 2005.

After winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel faces a similar task if he hopes to become the youngest World Champion in history, finding himself 16 points behind Jenson Button heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Taking inspiration from Raikkonen, the 22-year-old said: “I think our task from now on is pretty straightforward: we have to push ourselves to the maximum and try to win, get as many points as we can and everything else is not in our hands.

“You can ask the man sitting next to me (Lewis Hamilton) thinking two years back. I think Kimi had quite a big gap (to Lewis) with two races to go.

“Everyone said to Lewis it will not be a problem, sitting in one of the most competitive cars, just get a couple of points, but you can see sometimes, as I said before, things just don't work your way. Anything is possible. The bottom line is that we're here to fight.”

The German- born wunderkind acknowledged though that his fate depends on the fortunes of Button and fellow Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello.

“We are here to fight and the best thing we can do is win like we did today. I think we have a great car, still improving, the boys back in the factory are pushing very hard. We will see what we can do,” he said.

“We will focus on us, on ourselves, and simply try to win. Whatever Rubens and Jenson are doing it is in their hands, so I will keep on pushing.”