The German holds a 13-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso heading into Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix and is hot favourite for the title.

Vettel just needs a top-four finish to clinch the world crown for a third successive year, and he believes it is only natural that talented drivers end up at teams who are capable of producing title-winning cars.

“If you look back as far as I can, there were never drivers who were really successful in a really bad car,” the Sun quoted Vettel, as saying.

“It is natural that you have strong drivers in a strong team, so you end up with a strong combination that is difficult to beat. It’s normal to start your career in a weaker car. We have all been in that situation,” he added.

“Michael Schumacher started in a Jordan, which wasn’t competitive, but he set some highlights. Fernando Alonso started in a Minardi and had some highlights, too,” he said.

Vettel added: “In my case, I started with the BMW Sauber which was a great chance. Then I got the seat at Toro Rosso, which at the time was not a very competitive car but we did a very good job and even won a race.”