Vettel: Red Bull surge 'makes it interesting' at front of F1 field

Sebastian Vettel has said the surge in pace shown by Red Bull over the last two Formula 1 races makes the competition "interesting" at the front of the field.

Red Bull has made a significant step forward since Monza, winning a race and taking two further podiums. During the same period, Ferrari has suffered relatively badly with a double DNF and Vettel unable to qualify in Malaysia, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was unable to start the race. 

Vettel lost the championship lead in Italy, compounded by a DNF in Singapore to give Lewis Hamilton a 28-point lead, however Mercedes' struggles in Malaysia meant charging from the back of the grid could leave him only finishing one place off the podium in Malaysia, with both Red Bulls ahead.

Asked whether his old team's sudden form affected the title fight, he said that it doesn't matter but does make it interesting.

"It’s not a duel anymore, it’s three teams fighting," Vettel said.

"It makes it interesting for us. It doesn’t change anything, we want to be on top.

"Obviously the results were not the best over the last couple of races but I think we are strong and I think we have all reasons to be confident. I’m pretty sure that on Sunday we’ll be able to show what we can do."

Vettel said that although there was no specific upgrade package for Japan, Ferrari was in a strong position.

"We brought some changes to Malaysia. Not so much for here but it’s only a couple of days," Vettel said.

"I think overall the car is working and it’s up to us to improve. I think we are on track, it’s doing what we expected.

"So now we just need to make sure that the results are coming."