Sebastian Vettel still confident about Red Bull's title defence despite tough start to 2012 Formula 1 season

After Red Bull's dominant 2011 season, Vettel has not been able to challenge for victory in the opening two races - and failed to score any points in Malaysia following a collision with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan.

But although admitting that the start to the year has not been what the team wanted, Vettel is optimistic that the situation will improve for both himself and his team.

"I admit, the first two races weren't exactly perfect but they weren't that bad either," he wrote on his blog on the Red Bull Racing website. "We proved we can able to compete with the strongest teams and that's very important.

"When you get a mishap like the one I had in Malaysia, however, well then even we are helpless - but that's just how F1 works."

Looking ahead to the remainder of the campaign, Vettel added: "We now have 18 more races ahead of us and we will do all we can to defend our titles. I have total faith in the team, the car and myself. There's still much for us to do, but together as a team we can accomplish anything."