Vettel: I don't care about increased pressure

Sebastian Vettel insists he is not worried about the added pressure that comes along with being one of the favourites to win the World Championship.

The list of favourites is a pretty long one this year. Besides Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg have all been tipped as possible title winners in 2010.

Vettel, who finished nine points behind World Champion Button last year, admits there will be pressure on him this year, but he's not bothered about it.

"It is true that the expectations are higher from the outside," he told Germany's Salzburger Nachrichten. "It's something I can also be proud of. Our position as one of the favourites this year is down to our achievements of 2009.

"However, there is no time to rest. You must once again prove yourself in each test, in each round. To become World Champion was my goal last year and that will again be the case this year. Whether the pressure comes from the outside, I don't really care."

The new season is just a few weeks away and it's already clear from testing sessions that the four front runners are set to dominate. Vettel, though, insists "there's still more to come" as teams will make further improvements.

"Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and ourselves are at the front," he said. "But everything will be probably be very close. Ferrari have looked pretty strong so far. However, all teams will make improvements to their car before the start of the season, so there's is more to come."

Source: Planet-F1