Vettel admits passing Alonso too risky

Sebastian Vettel has declared himself satisfied with second place in today's Singapore Grand Prix, claiming that it was better to secure a decent haul of points than risk losing everything in trying a move on Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for the win

"I tried to push him [Alonso] into a mistake, but he did not make a mistake," said the Red Bull driver.

"It's difficult to overtake here and it would have been too risky. We got good points. The most important is that car was competitive all weekend. There was a bit missing yesterday and that is probably what was missing today.

"In the drivers' championship everything is open."

Vettel also highlighted his good start, saying that it indicated that some of the suggestions that the team was struggling to get off the line cleanly were off the mark.

"We made a good start," he said. "We have been criticised wrongly in the past, and it was good to come here on street circuit to get right settings on car, and both did good starts."

The German added that Alonso's back-to-back wins proved that the championship still remains open.

"Any of the five drivers leading the championship still have a very good chance," he said. "Things can change quickly - just look at Fernando. People have written him off twice and he is back.

"If you win one or two races you are back again, so the most important is the consistency. We have to keep our head down and get the maximum out of ourselves."