Vettel points out the only way Ferrari can truly be "back" in F1

Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel has said that the only way for his team to be "back" in Formula 1 is for them to win the title, with the four-time champion having failed to do so in the four and a half years he's spent in red overalls so far.

Vettel was brought on board at Ferrari in 2015 to bring championships back to Maranello, but with Mercedes' dominance in the turbo-hybrid era since 2014, the German hasn't been able to deliver on that yet.

Now, for the first time in over a decade, Ferrari have won three races in a row, although the gap to the German works team in the championship is very unlikely to be closed in the final six races of the season.

When asked whether Ferrari are "back" after their recent success since the summer break, Vettel explained that winning a few races isn't enough for the prancing horse, given the enormous history in Maranello.

"I've been around for a while now with Ferrari and I think there's only one way for Ferrari to be back which is when we win the championship," Vettel told Motorsport.com.

"That's a very harsh judgement but that's what it is, that's the reality.

"We're working very hard on that. I think this year will be very, very difficult to turn things around with the current form that Mercedes has for the last 15 races or 14 races.

"We keep fighting because anything we learn this year will help us next year, so the bits we brought here obviously are positive in terms of also looking to next year's
direction and development.

"But we need more. We want to be the best team, which currently we are not.

"The last races have been good for us, so that's great for our self-confidence inside the team and for everyone, but there's still a lot of work ahead of us."