Twelve months on from Sebastian Vettel's historic Grand Prix victory in Italy that confirmed his potential to become a world champion, Formula One's fastest-rising star has admitted that a win in Sunday's return to Monza is crucial to his first serious title challenge.

Last September Vettel drove magnificently to tame a sodden circuit and score a stunning triumph for perennial midfield runners Scuderia Toro Rosso. At 21 years and 74 days he went into the record books as the youngest-ever winner of a Formula One race.

Moving to Red Bull this season Vettel has notched up two more wins, again in the rain in China and later in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

From trailing Jenson Button by 32 points after his British rival won his sixth race from seven starts in Turkey three months ago, the German star has now closed to within 19 with 50 still up for grabs.

He said: "My chances of taking the title are intact. My goal is to become world champion and I want to win again at Monza."

Unfortunately, a vital victory over the struggling Button will depend not so much on Vettel's skill behind the wheel but on the reliability of his Renault engine.

Vettel has already been hit by four engine failures this season. Each driver is allowed a maximum of eight engines, so more blow-ups in the remaining five grands prix will almost certainly see him having to go at least one over the limit and incur what would be a race-wrecking 10-place grid penalty as a consequence.

What adds tension to his challenge in Italy is the knowledge that the high-speed nature of the Monza circuit means engines are put through one of their most punishing tests, with drivers at full throttle for three-quarters of each 3.6 mile lap.

In order to keep the mileage on his remaining engines to a minimum, Red Bull are limiting the amount of practice Vettel can undertake. At the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago he sat out the Friday morning session entirely, and is likely to do so again.

However, this tactic means Vettel has less time to become acquainted with track conditions. It cost him at Spa where he could only qualify eighth. Had he started higher up the grid, he might have finished even better than third and so cut more into Button's points lead.

Vettel said: "This doesn't help us. It means less practice for me, and it would be better if I was 33 or 34 years old and had more experience. But I'm not, so we just have to get on with what we've got.

"As long as we keep scoring big points and finishing ahead of the other contenders it will be a good thing. It's a bit of a weird championship this year, everything up and down, and I know I must finish the remaining races."

What will fuel Vettel on Sunday is the memory of that dramatic win in appalling conditions last year.

He said: "It was a perfect weekend and one I will remember always, whatever else I achieve during my career.

"But things have changed a lot in the space of 12 months. Now me and Red Bull Racing are fighting for championship titles, so we are considered front runners.

"It doesn't put me under any more pressure but it does mean our expectations are higher."