MEXICO CITY -- Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari has proven its critics wrong and exceeded expectations by emerging as a title contender this season -- even if his championship bid has fallen apart in the last four rounds.
Vettel led the championship by 14 points after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July, but since F1's summer break has struggled to keep up with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. A first-lap accident in Singapore and reliability problems in Malaysia and Japan saw Vettel's chances decimated in the space of three rounds and he arrives at this weekend's Mexico Grand Prix with his title hopes hanging by a thread.