Vettel hurting but keen to 'protect' Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel admits his retirement from the Japanese Grand Prix "hurts" but says he wants "to protect" Ferrari after his title hopes took a major blow at Suzuka.

Having been hit by a power unit problem during qualifying in Malaysia – two weeks after retiring from pole in Singapore – Vettel suffered another reliability issue in Japan and was forced to retire in the opening laps. Lewis Hamilton went on to take full advantage by winning the race to extend his championship lead to 59 points but when asked about Ferrari's recent reliability record, Vettel replied: "I think I need to protect them.

"We've done an incredible job so far, pity the last two races with reliability issues, but it's like that sometimes. Of course it hurts and we're all disappointed but I think now we need to get back, get some rest and go flat-out for the last four races and see what happens."

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Vettel tried to point to Ferrari's level of competitiveness as a positive aspect of its season while saying he would not give up on the title despite Hamilton being able to wrap up the championship at the next race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

"We still have a chance this year. Obviously it depends what happens today and in the next races... Obviously it's not as much in our control as we'd like, but overall I think the team is on a good way. I think we are improving race by race – we've got a lot further than people thought.

"There's also some positives but for sure now we don't look at positives, because it is not a day to look at positives."

Japan was the second race in succession that Ferrari needed to work on a car on the grid after Kimi Raikkonen suffered a power unit problem that saw him wheeled off the grid in Malaysia and fail to start from second place.

Vettel also received a reprimand following the race at Suzuka for failing to attend the start of the national anthem. The non-driving reprimand is his first of the season.