Sebastian Vettel has made no secret of the challenge he faces to turn the Formula 1 title race aꦺround in his favour after retiring from Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, falling 59 points behind Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the process.

A crash in Singapore followed by reliability issues in Malaysia and Japan have left Vettel's hopes of a fifth F1 title in tatters, with Ha𒁃milton capable of clinching the crown at the next race in Austin.

Trailin﷽g by 59 points with only 100 left to play for, Vettel is under no illusions about the task ahead, but wants t⛄he Ferrari team members to focus on recovering after a tough run of races.

"Of course, I don’t need to be a gen🍬ius or a mathematician," Vettel said when talking about the points gap.

"What we have to do now is like I said♊ to the guys, let’s get back and get some rest as it has been a tough, tough🐽 weeks with a lot of changes and the mechanics are tired, the team is tired I think so it is good to get some rest.

"We know we have theಌ package to go well in the last four races so that is what we will focus to do and the rest weꦐ will see."

When asked if he'd lost the title at Suzuka, Vettel said: "I don’t know. You get the calculator out and count the points at the end of the year to see ﷽how many you have then you look back.

"But for sure not finishing race doesn’t help."