Sebastian Vettel says the five non-finishes he has registered this season were the main reason his world championship challenge never came to fruition.

“It’s been a long year, a little bit up and down, and there were five races we didn’t finish, so it could have been a little bit better,” he said. "But in the races we finished I think we always achieved more or less our maximum. Throughout the season we’ve had very, very good pace. Sometimes we weren’t able to use it, but overall it’s been very positive. Obviously there are three more races and we have a very competitive car still, so we’ll try to win some more.”

Asked why his title bid had unravelled, Vettel said he and Red Bull had simply let too many opportunities slip through their fingers.

“It’s not a secret: If you want to win the championship you can’t afford many DNFs – you should always finish, ideally in the points,” he said. “So that’s one thing. For the team and myself it was the first time we’ve been in that kind of position, so obviously there are a lot of things we’ve learned already and we still have to learn. Looking back, there were more than two races where we had the pace to win and didn’t.”

He added that the competitiveness and unpredictability of the 2009 season made it harder to be consistent than in previous years.

“I think this year has been quite special,” he said. “Obviously the last race here was in 2006, and I was looking back at the car performances back then and the championship. At Suzuka Michael [Schumacher] had the engine failure in the race, but up to that point there were exactly three drivers who were able to win races – Michael, Fernando and Felipe. It was quite different than it is now. This year it was much closer and therefore more up and down.”

Vettel admitted that the penalties he received after the Melbourne season-opener and in Singapore had been costly, but said he and the team needed to tighten up other areas of their performance too.

“All in all, if you want to fight for the championship and you want to win the championship, you need to have a season without any trouble from any side – penalties, DNFs, failures or whatever,” he said. “We’ve been on the podium six times but five times we didn’t finish. “I think still it has been a very good season so far, and it’s not over yet, but for sure we could have done better.”
Source: ITV