Vettel: Runner-up spot not important

The German driver finished in fourth position at Interlagos, just one place ahead of Jenson Button, who secured the title with one race remaining.

Although Vettel leapfrogged Rubens Barrichello in the standings, the Red Bull driver admits he's not worried about his position now that he can't be champion.

"Second is the first loser," said Vettel. "I'll just try to do my best in Abu Dhabi. Obviously the target is to win, as we have a winning car.

"I don't really care about second or third."

Vettel, who started the race from 15th place, claimed he could have won the race had he not endured such a difficult qualifying.

"All in all it was a good race, starting from the back and finishing fourth," he said. "Maybe it was the maximum we could do. Obviously without the problems in qualifying we should have won that race, but we didn't, so there's not much more to say.

"I was only focusing on the laps, on the circuit, on the car. I was quite busy. I realised finishing fourth was not enough. I was praying for rain, and there was the smell of rain, but it never came down."