Sebastian Vettel praises team as Ferrari thrive in Singapore

Vettel, four times world champion, arrived in Singapore 74 points adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton. After the Briton was forced to retire his Mercedes for the first time this season, the German cut that gap to 49 points with six races left.

Vettel shrugged off two safety car periods and a track intruder to win for a fourth time in Singapore, move one victory ahead of Ayrton Senna's 41 career triumphs and notch up his third debut-season win for Ferrari, one more than his idol Michael Schumacher managed for the Italian outfit in 1996.

"In all fairness I think the car he had in '96 was a lot worse than the one we have this year, which shows again what a great racing driver he was," Vettel told reporters.

"Looking back though it has been incredible and I can consider myself very lucky that I have been in a position to always have a great team around me and, looking at our current situation, the team is improving and the spirit is very high.

"We are heading in the right direction. We are delighted with today's result, delighted with the car but not yet where we want to be and there is still work to do but we must keep our feet on the ground."

Vettel also praised the chemistry between himself and team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third in Singapore behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, with the Finn admitting their partnership was a good one.

"You try to be good team mates, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win but you have to be happy for the team. I would much rather be with him (Vettel) in the same team when he wins than to be third if he is racing for another team," he said.

"It's a win-win situation for me. I didn't have the best three days and fair enough he was faster but I don't mind taking the third place and we can try again next week. I'm sure we'll have more good battles in the future.

"We are working well, I am happy for him and I am happy for the team. We are having good results, they could be better but they are going in the right direction for us."

In fact, the season is going so well that team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, who promised he would "run through the hills barefoot" if Ferrari won four races in 2015, could soon be getting very cold feet if Vettel or Raikkonen manage another triumph in one of the six remaining grands prix.