Vettel hoping for July joy

Sebastian Vettel hopes to end his July jinx this weekend as he targets another British GP win to make him forget his Valencia disappointment.

Vettel has won a race in every other month on the Formula One calendar, from March through to November, with the exception of July in which he has competed in nine grands prix.

In 2008 Vettel retired at Silverstone and was eighth in his home race in Germany at Hockenheim, whilst a year later he was second at the Nurburgring and failed to finish in Hungary.

In 2010, again with races in Britain and Germany, Vettel was seventh and third respectively, whilst last year his sequence at Silverstone, the Nurburgring and Hungary was second, fourth and second, a bizarre anomaly given he won 11 other races.

It is a quirky little statistic Vettel, who turned 25 on Tuesday, was unaware of until pointed out to him.

"I was born in July, so it should be a good month," said Vettel. "But I didn't know that, so I'll try for another year. I've three attempts this month, so maybe this time I'll do it."

Asked if there was added pressure with a home race at Hockenheim next up, Vettel quickly joked: "It seems there is more pressure in July now."

Vettel goes into the British Grand Prix, a race he won in 2009 but in June, eager to claw back the 26-point deficit to current championship leader Fernando Alonso following his frustrating retirement last time out in the European Grand Prix.

Cruising to victory, Vettel was first thwarted by a safety car, and although still in the lead once it departed, an alternator failure in the Renault engine of his Red Bull cost him the win.

The reigning double champion, whose pace in Valencia was eye opening, said: "We made a step forward there which I was very happy about, but we have to be patient.

"If you look at the weekend from my side it was straightforward, smooth, and a very smooth race up to the point where we had the failure.

"But everything seemed to work and come together. You don't often have a weekend like that where everything seems to run and work.

"That can make a difference on top of what we did with the car, but we need to confirm it here first of all.

"It is a different track, so that's why we have to be patient."