Sebastian Vettel hopes to end title drought with 2016 Singapore Grand Prix win

Defending Singapore Grand Prix champion Sebastian Vettel said he is ready to sweat it out in challenging conditions at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Sebastian Vettel believes he would be able to end Ferrari's barren run in 2016 Formula One season with a win at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The German driver, who clinched his fourth Singapore title in 2015, has been struggling without a win in the 2016 season. Vettel started well with a third-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix and looked good to lead Ferrari's challenge against Mercedes. However, the 29-year-old, who joined the Italian constructors from Red Bull in 2015, has not been consistent and managed only three second-place finishes.

Vettel though opined Ferrari have the edge over their rivals in the second night race of the season on 18 September. Mercedes struggled in last year's race in Singapore with Nico Rosberg finishing fourth and Lewis Hamilton retiring due to power problems. The four-time world champion said he was ready to battle humidity and drive past the city lights, the high-rise buildings at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

"Yes, physically and mentally it is the most demanding weekend, as the track is pretty long and pretty uneven with an awful lot of corners on top - a true street circuit! The high temperatures and the humidity make us sweat like hell, but that is the titillating thing with this track," Vettel was quoted as saying by Formula One official website.

"It is a track that I personally like very much and it was a good fit for us last year, so if we get up on the right side of the bed on Sunday we should have a good race.

"When looking at last year's race, Mercedes was struggling quite a bit - but that was last year, so there's no guarantee it will happen again. Should they struggle again, everybody else will take advantage of it - hopefully us the most."

Mercedes are leading the constructors' standings after the Silver Arrows drivers Hamilton and Rosberg shared 13 titles in 2016 between them. However, the race for the second spot between Ferrari and Red Bull is heating up.

After falling behind the leaders by a huge margin, the Scuderia driver says his team badly wants to edge out their Austrian rivals with good showings in the upcoming races.

"I would prefer to finish in P1, but I'm realistic enough to say that we are a bit far off that position. So definitely it matters to me whether we end up in P2 or P3. I would say at times we have not scored as high as we should have, but there are enough races ahead to harvest good point," Vettel added.

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