<p class="title">Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has hit back at suggestions he has been making too many mistakes to win this year's Formula One championship.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The German, a four-times world champion like Lewis Hamilton, was penalised at last weekend's French Grand Prix for colliding with his Mercedes rival's Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the start.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He ended up fifth after coming back through the field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That left Vettel 14 points behind Hamilton after eight races, with both title contenders on three wins each and the German having started half the races from pole position.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's racing. There are some errors you shouldn't do, some errors that happen. It depends on the type of error," Vettel, in good spirits, told reporters ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've had a lot of races. It happens, unfortunately, at times. I try to minimise it, but I'm not worried. I don't think there is something fundamentally wrong," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think we know what we are doing - I hope I know what I'm doing most of the time, so I should be fine."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The German lost places in Azerbaijan in April, when he started on pole but finished fourth, after he made a bid for the lead, locked up and ran wide following a safety car restart.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In China, a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dropped him down the order, after the pre-race favourite had initially made a good start from pole.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton has meanwhile gone 33 successive races in the points and his off days have been less costly than the Ferrari drivers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a long way to go, and it's normal some things happen along the way," said Vettel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Obviously you are trying to push the limits. It didn't cross my mind when I was in Baku to just stay behind, surrender, and maybe wave another person past, just to collect some points," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That's not how I define racing. I tried to go for the gap, I went for it, it was there, and I didn't make it. It didn't work. Sometimes it works out, and it's great; sometimes it doesn't." </p>
<p class="title">Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has hit back at suggestions he has been making too many mistakes to win this year's Formula One championship.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The German, a four-times world champion like Lewis Hamilton, was penalised at last weekend's French Grand Prix for colliding with his Mercedes rival's Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the start.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He ended up fifth after coming back through the field.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That left Vettel 14 points behind Hamilton after eight races, with both title contenders on three wins each and the German having started half the races from pole position.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's racing. There are some errors you shouldn't do, some errors that happen. It depends on the type of error," Vettel, in good spirits, told reporters ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've had a lot of races. It happens, unfortunately, at times. I try to minimise it, but I'm not worried. I don't think there is something fundamentally wrong," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think we know what we are doing - I hope I know what I'm doing most of the time, so I should be fine."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The German lost places in Azerbaijan in April, when he started on pole but finished fourth, after he made a bid for the lead, locked up and ran wide following a safety car restart.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In China, a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dropped him down the order, after the pre-race favourite had initially made a good start from pole.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton has meanwhile gone 33 successive races in the points and his off days have been less costly than the Ferrari drivers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a long way to go, and it's normal some things happen along the way," said Vettel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Obviously you are trying to push the limits. It didn't cross my mind when I was in Baku to just stay behind, surrender, and maybe wave another person past, just to collect some points," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That's not how I define racing. I tried to go for the gap, I went for it, it was there, and I didn't make it. It didn't work. Sometimes it works out, and it's great; sometimes it doesn't." </p>