Sebastian Vettel still driven by the pain of defeat

Sebastian Vettel has not allowed himself to forget the pain of defeat even during his current run of untouchable form.

The Red Bull driver has been a class apart in the early weeks of the 2011 campaign, winning the opening two races from pole and claiming top spot for today's Chinese Grand Prix by seven tenths of a second from McLaren's Jenson Button.

The reigning world champion is looking to make it five wins in a row this morning but remained mindful of the times when poles and wins did not come quite so readily.

"Since halfway through 2009 we have had a very, very competitive car and we enjoy running at the front but we still haven't forgotten how it feels to run at the back, not only finishing fourth, fifth, sixth, even further down," said Vettel.

The McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are breathing hard down the neck of Red Bull. Button's second place yesterday represents his best qualifying performance of the season and the 31-year-old said: "I think we have improved the car a lot and we should be happy."

Hamilton added: "They (Red Bull] are a little bit quicker in the race but we're quite competitive there, so we can give them a run for their money."

Nico Rosberg took fourth on the grid, with the Ferraris fifth and sixth, Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa. Scotland's Paul di Resta took his Force India to eighth ahead of only his third career grand prix.