I'm still in title race, says Vettel
Ferrari driver is 50 points behind leader Hamilton, with five races left
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel could see his hopes of a fifth Formula One world title fading with the Sochi sunset on Sunday after falling 50 points behind Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton with five races remaining.
Even if it sounded like clutching at straws, the German was not about to give up the fight, however.
"I wasn't a genius in maths, but I was clever enough to pay attention to make it up myself," he said when asked whether he could feel the championship slipping away after Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two in Russia.
"It's not getting easier if we lose points. I still believe in our chances; yes, obviously it's not getting bigger if you finish behind but who knows? It takes one DNF (non-finish) and then all of a sudden things look different.
"Ideally two - which I'm not wishing on Lewis, but you never know what happens. So we need to stay on top of our game which maybe we haven't been completely this weekend. We have to make sure that from where we are now, we focus on winning the last races."
Hamilton has now won eight times this season, and five of the last six, while Vettel - on five wins - opened the campaign strongly but has faded due in part to errors made by himself and the team.
The German now has 256 points to Hamilton's 306.
Japan is up next, followed by Texas, in the United States, and Mexico before Brazil and the finale in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Vettel won his first title with Red Bull in 2010 after overhauling a 31-point deficit in the last six races, while in 2012 he took his third crown despite having been 44 points adrift of his then-closest rival Fernando Alonso at one point.
The chances of that happening this year are remote, with both title contenders having only one retirement each in 16 races to date.
Hamilton also won in Japan and Texas last season before wrapping up the title in Mexico, a scenario that looks equally possible at the current level of performance.
WOLFF TAKES BLAME
"Today the feeling with the car was very good and I was able to push, but I just wasn't as fast as the others," said Vettel.
"We lost some points during the two last races... But we have our plan to follow and hopefully we can make some progress in the races to come."
Meanwhile, Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has blamed himself for the "team orders" controversy that engulfed Hamilton's victory at the Russian GP.
The Austrian said he was talking to chief strategist James Vowles when they should have called in the Briton for his first pit-stop and as a result he pitted a lap too late.
This, he said, created the scenario that led to Hamilton fighting to pass Vettel on track and a subsequent need for team orders to protect the defending champion, with blistered tyres, from a Vettel attack.
The switch of positions that deprived Valtteri Bottas of a deserved win left him glum-faced with Hamilton embarrassed at the means by which he was victorious.
"We got tangled up with the pit stops," Wolff said.
"We did the right thing in calling Valtteri in first, that protected his position, but we were a lap too late with Lewis.
"I take it on me because I was engaging with James in a conversation when he should have made the call. We came in a lap too late and lost the position.
"Lewis had to fight hard to overtake Sebastian, which was really an awesome move, but blistered the tyres.
"Then we had a situation where Valtteri in front was managing the tyres, Lewis behind with a blistered rear and Sebastian all over Lewis." - AFP, REUTERS
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