Vettel: No doubts about pushing Hamilton

The Toro Rosso driver overtook Hamilton before the start of the final lap, relegating the Briton to sixth position, which was not enough for him to secure the title.

Hamilton went on to overtake Toyota's Timo Glock at the final corner to win the championship.

Vettel said did not know what position he or Hamilton were in.

"I was just trying to push as hard as I could and overtake as many cars as I could," Vettel told reporters. "I didn't have a clue where I was after the stop. Before I knew I was running solidly in P5 behind Lewis. I tried to get him, but did not quite succeed.

"After the stop there were a lot of lapped cars. It was quite confusing with the rain getting more and more heavy. It was quite tricky to manage but I managed to pass Lewis one lap before the end. And on that last lap Timo - so I finished P4.

When asked if he was aware that overtaking Hamilton could have cost him the title, Vettel said: "No, not at all. As I said, after the stop it was quite confusing. I knew that some cars stayed out on dry tyres. I think they had a serious chance and as you can see, it was a very dramatic end. I just saw it on television."

The German admitted he would have no qualms about racing Hamilton even if he had been aware of the championship situation.

"No. Not at all. In the end I was racing against Lewis. And at the beginning at some point I was racing against Felipe. So if I had a chance at the beginning to pass Felipe I would have done it. I did my own race, and was caring only for myself.

"I don't care at all (about Hamilton's championship). "I was doing my own race and looking after myself. To be honest, as I said already, I had no clue where I was or in what position and so on."