Sebastian Vettel yesterday warned there was a long way to go in the Formula One championship despite his “dream” victory in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old defending world champion dominated in his Red Bull to win ahead of Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi, and close the gap on Fernando Alonso to just four points. But he said: “I am very careful. I think we had a long journey so far. It has been a tough year and there are still many races to go. Today I don't want to talk about theu00a0championship.” Vettel romped to his second straight title last year but he has suffered reliability problems this season before hitting form with his back-to-back wins in Singapore and Japan.