‘Title fight a marvelous advert for Formula 1’

The constant swinging of the pendulum in this year’s title fight is a “marvelous advertisement” for F1, says Toto Wolff.

While Sebastian Vettel started the race in flying form, winning the first two races of the campaign, the battle between the German and Lewis Hamilton has seen the lead in the standings change hands several times.

And with Hamilton winning the most recent two races, Germany and Hungary, he headed into the summer break with a 24-point advantage over Vettel.

But while the duo may be the only two with a serious shot at this year’s World title, Red Bull have played their part with three wins while Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen’s form has added to the excitement.

“The battle at the top is more exciting than ever before, and things are also very tight in the midfield,” Wolff said.

“The races have not only produced some great wheel-to-wheel action on the track, but also some surprise winners: seven of the 12 races so far were not necessarily won by the fastest car.

“All in all, I would say that the 2018 season has been a marvelous advertisement for the sport.

“For us as a team, the half-term report is a positive one, as we are currently leading both World Championships. We owe this to the efforts of our team in Brackley and Brixworth and to the driving skills of Lewis and Valtteri.

“At the same time, though, we also realise that we have dropped points in more than one race, so we are going flat-out to boost performance even more for the second half of the season.”

Wolff, though, is looking forward to a brief break as Formula 1 downs tools for its summer holiday.

He added: “It’s a break that everyone on our team has more than earned.

“We will then come back refreshed with the necessary energy to raise our game even further in the second half of the season.”

Follow us on Twitter @Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.