This weekend, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was denied the chance of a fifth World Championship after Lewis Hamilton secured top spot for the season with a fourth-place finish in Mexico.

Vettel had encountered a number of struggles during the 2018 season, including a DNF at the German Grand Prix, and a fourth-place finish in Italy that saw him clash with Hamilton in the first lap.

However, when asked if either of those incidents were the 'defining moment' of his season, the German gave a calm, straightforward response.

He said: "No, none of the two be honest. For me it was Singapore.

"I think from Singapore onwards we just didn't have the pace to keep up with Mercedes for a couple of races and then obviously some other things happened on top that didn't help and we couldn't score the points due to mistakes.

Vettel came third in Singapore, behind Max Verstappen in second and Lewis Hamilton in first. He said that while he is disappointed, he cannot be too harsh on himself.

He continued: "I can't be too hard on myself with what happened in Germany. I've made much bigger mistakes this year but obviously, it was the most costly one.

"Unfortunately it's part of racing. When you push, you sometimes might be pushing a little bit too hard. I chose the wrong corner as well. But anyway, it's behind me and I'm not really thinking about that too much."

Despite it being confirmed the Ferrari drive will not raise the F1 trophy this season, Vettel still sits in second in the overall rankings with teammate Kimi Raikkonen trailing in third.

Vettel is determined to bounce back in Brazil.

He said: "I think I will be as strong as I can be in two weeks’ time heading to Brazil.

“That’s what my team deserves and that’s what all the guys at home in Maranello deserve.

“Maybe, for now, I’m not the happiest guy, but in two weeks’ time I’m allowed to step into the car that I always dreamt of driving, so there are plenty of things to be happy about.”