Arrivabene hails Ferrari's progress in 2015

After dominating in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel was beaten at Suzuka as rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg proved too quick.

But although the result was a let down following the joys of Marina Bay, Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was focused on the positives.

In particular, he thinks the fact the team was the closest rival to Ferrari at a high-speed, high-downforce track like this shows the amount of progress the team has made since it last raced on a similar venue at Silverstone.

"When you are not winning of course you are disappointed," he said. "This is normal. But the right comparison here is not with Singapore. It is with Silverstone.

"If you look at the gap we have at Silverstone and the gap that we have here, it is less here – which means we have improved a lot.

"As I have said many, many times, there are certain tracks like Suzuka that are not good for our car. I have to say after Monza the engine helped a lot but as you know, the car is still more or less the same.

"I am very proud about the work of all our engineers, of all our team, and especially the engine department."

Luck needed

With Vettel having slipped to 59 points adrift of Hamilton with six races remaining, it is clear that his title hopes are fading.

However, Arrivabene knows there is nothing to gain by giving up, and remains hopeful that some good fortune could still come the team's way.

When asked about his feelings on the title, Arrivabene said: "If you win the lottery, you become a millionaire.

"To win the lottery you need to be lucky, so if we are lucky, yes, but we need to be really lucky."