• Singapore Grand Prix

Vettel hoping alternator fix works

Sebastian Vettel: "We've got a couple of ideas and it should be better in the future" © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Race:
• Singapore Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel has admitted Red Bull is still unsure what caused the alternator failure that forced him to retire from the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Vettel has retired from two races this year with alternator failures, the first time at the European Grand Prix while leading the race. Red Bull's engine supplier Renault Sport has vowed to find a solution, but Vettel said his team was not completely sure of the reason heading into this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

"Obviously it's not nice to happen," he said, "it helps if you finish the race to get some points! I'm confident it will improve but obviously two times this year we've had a problem with the alternator. We're working hard on it and it's a bit difficult because after the failure you don't know exactly what went wrong because otherwise we would have fixed it and it wouldn't have happened again a few months later. We've got a couple of ideas and it should be better in the future."

Despite the reliability issues, Vettel believes the Red Bull has been a strong performer this year and sees no reason why that should change as he attempts to close the 39-point gap to Fernando Alonso at the top of the championship.

"If you look at all the races we had so far I think consistency is the most important and I think we always had a car quick enough to finish in the top five," he said. "I think that's pretty consistent if you look at the championship so far. I think that's what you need and that's what you need until the end of the year. The more points you score the better it is and for sure we were not in a position to win every race this year, but I think we've had a good car and I don't think it should change over the next couple of races."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.