Sebastian Vettel wants to finish ahead of Nico Rosberg in Drivers' Championship

The world championship battle might be over but Sebastian Vettel insists there’s still plenty to fight for, with the Ferrari driver targeting second place in the standings ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Vettel currently holds a four-point lead over Rosberg with three races to go and will look to extend his advantage at this weekend's Mexican GP.

"For sure, second place is the target. First, unfortunately, is out of reach and second is better than third, so we'll try to go for second," he told reporters on Thursday.

"I want to beat Nico, that's the primary target that I have."

Vettel finished third in last week's US GP behind Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who therefore re-took the title

Along with most of the F1 field, this is Vettel's first visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and therefore a step into the unknown, although he has got to grips with the 2.7-mile track on Ferrari's simulator.

Mexico City's altitude - 2,250m above sea level - could cause reliability problems as turbochargers work harder to force the thinner air into engines, with downforce and drag also lower than normal.

"The track looks very interesting, especially the fact that the altitude is playing a big role," Vettel said. "Looking a the downforce levels of the cars and the drag levels, it should be an interesting experience.

"I'm looking forward to getting out and feeling the track for the first time."

Vettel follows Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo in Austin

Having closed the gap to Mercedes, Ferrari are expected to be even closer in 2016, although team-mate Kimi Raikkonen said they won't be doing anything radically different in the final races as a taster for next season.

"It's game over for the championship that way but there's still three races left and we'll try and do our maximum, do a good job and prepare for next year," he said.

"I don't think we're going to do anything differently than we've done so far. We've been doing a great job as a team and going in the right direction, so there's no point to change anything."