Vettel trusts brake issue a one-off

The Red Bull Racing driver was slowed in the closing stages of last weekend's race with a front left brake problem - which forced him to nurse the car home as he slipped to third.

Although the team has not yet confirmed exactly what happened to Vettel's brakes, the German says the team has taken preventative action to ensure there can be repeat event.

"We think we understood what happened," said Vettel in Monaco. "We are not 100 per cent sure yet, so we have a fix for here and we don't expect to have similar problems. We will see when we get on track.

"Obviously we've had a couple of issues this year with reliability, and none of them were the same, or happened for the same reason. But we have always reacted very quickly and so far it hasn't happened again, so I'm quite confident we've again found a solution."

Although Vettel has had a frustrating start to the season - seeing victories in Bahrain and Australia slip through his fingers thanks to reliability problems - he is still only 10 points off championship leader Jenson Button.

And Vettel thinks the lessons of the early part of the season are that finishing races is a must in terms of the title.

"Would, could, should is not happening," he said. "We can't change the races we've had. Another race like last week, the key was to get maximum points out of it, and third place was not a disaster. It could have been much worse.

"So it's good, unlike last year when we had a worse start to the season. We're not massively behind. Ten points sounds a lot, but we have a new points system as well, so it's not that much.

"Surely it shows if you look at the evolution of the championship and the points, how important it is to finish races. Jenson has won two, and the other races he has been fifth or sixth, or something like that, so it shows how important it is to finish every single grand prix."

And Vettel has said he is relishing working alongside Mark Webber, as the pair help drive the team on to success.

"I'm happy to be in the same team as Mark," he said. "We're both pushing each other, which is the key. Neither of us has the chance to fall asleep. We love what we are doing, we enjoy it, and as I have said we always try to win, which we have proven this year.

"I don't know how you say it in English, but he usually doesn't hesitate to use strong words, he is always quite straightforward.

"He is sometimes that way, but when it comes down to racing we both know what we want, and we both have our targets."