Vettel says championship not over

The Red Bull driver finished the Monza race in eighth position, while championship leaders Brawn secured a one-two finished, with Rubens Barrichello leading Jenson Button.

Button is now 14 points ahead of Barrichello, with Vettel in third, 26 points adrift with only 40 to play for.

Vettel admitted his team simply was not quick enough at Monza, but the German refused to give up on the title.

"I think we had a good start and a good first lap, but then I was struggling to stay with the cars in front," said Vettel.

"The biggest issue today was the first five to ten laps when I was struggling with low grip, I was sliding a lot and lost a lot of time.

"Overall, we didn't have the speed and perhaps this wasn't the best track for our car. For the next race we will put more downforce in again and maybe we'll be better, we will see. The championship isn't over - our target is to do our best, we're here to win races and the championship, so we have to focus on that, all the rest is out of our hands."

Team-mate Mark Webber also had a day to forget after he made contact with Robert Kubica at the second chicane on the first lap.

The Australian retired on the spot and is now 28.5 points behind Button.

"I had a reasonable start, I was trying to find a good line through the chicane," Webber said. "I had Sebastian in front, so I was pretty clean as I didn't want to get tangled up with him.

Both of us got through the first chicane, I was following Sebastian into the next, but then had a racing incident with Robert Kubica. It seems like his front wheel was inside my rear left at the second chicane, it was difficult to know he was there.

"We had contact which flicked the car into the air a little bit, then nosed it into the guard rail. The car was undamaged, but I couldn't get it out and back onto the track. I couldn't have done anything differently.

"It's frustrating to retire through such a small incident, especially when all the guys have put so much effort into preparing the car. It's not great for the drivers' championship, but this is my first DNF of the year. We will bounce back from this and do what we can in the final races."