Vettel will not change style despite Singapore disaster

A defiant Sebastian Vettel vowed yesterday not to change the way he drives despite his first-lap exit in Singapore as he prepares for the last Malaysian Grand Prix this week.

Vettel's Ferrari started from pole, but was involved in a crash at the start that also took out teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Max Verstappen on a rain-soaked Marina Bay Circuit.

It allowed Lewis Hamilton, who avoided the carnage to win from fifth on the grid, to extend his championship lead from a slender three points to 28.

"I'm not too fussed about the amount of points," Vettel said yesterday at the Sepang International Circuit.

"Obviously, it's never good to be behind, we'd like to be in front, but we're not, so we've got to take it from there.

"Overall, it doesn't change anything for how we tackle the last six races."

Vettel was exonerated of blame for the Singapore crash by stewards, but many observers felt the four-time world champion was at fault as he had forced Verstappen towards Raikkonen.

But the 30-year-old Vettel said that he hadn't given the crash much thought since because it was just "part of racing".

"I think it would have been more difficult if I had lost the car somewhere in the race, then it's obviously different," he said.

"The lights went off, we did our starts.

"Everyone was trying to do his start and, with the way it happened, it ended up really bad for all of us.

"There's not much you can do. I think it's part of racing.

"It certainly didn't help Lewis scored a lot of points, but that's the way it goes.

"It's not the first time I'm in the situation like this and probably will not be the last time - not that I'm hoping for it to happen again."

Hamilton was also reluctant to hail the Singapore race as the season's decisive turning point.

"There's lots of turning points within a year," he said yesterday.

"I'm going to try and make sure that was the last one." - REUTERS