Alonso says Vettel deserves to be in the position he is in

Vettel, winner of eight races so far this year, could clinch his second title in Singapore this weekend if the results favour him.

The Red Bull driver is 112 points ahead of Alonso with six races to go.

The Ferrari driver conceded Vettel has been the best this year and insists that, even with the best car, the German has proved to be very strong in all circumstances.

"He's driving fantastically," Alonso told reporters in Singapore. "I think this year he has made no mistakes or very few mistakes. Last year we had a bigger chance. I think the Red Bull was very dominant also last year but had some trouble in some races.

"This year they improved all those problems. The car is as quick as last year. He has finished all the races. I think he's the only driver who has finished all the races, and plus he's driving very, very well.

"When you have a dominant car it's easy to get a pole position or win a race, but there's been some occasions this year when the conditions were very tricky like Canada or Silverstone and he managed to pull a perfect lap in qualifying and a perfect race from the start to the end.

"So in general he has been the best driver, and the best team and the best package, so they deserve to be where they are."

When asked if he had given up on his hopes to win the title this year, Alonso said: "Yes".

Alonso, who has won in Singapore twice in three years, is adamant Ferrari will be strong this weekend, but concedes beating Red Bull and McLaren will not be easy.

"Singapore is one of our best opportunities in the remaining races because the characteristics of the circuit are similar to Monte Carlo, where we were quite competitive there.

"And we have the soft and the super soft tyres, a combination that we like more. So it should be a good weekend for us, but victory is never easy, never close enough when we are fighting with Red Bull and McLaren. So it's going to be tough but hopefully closer than in some other places."