Vettel: Good news in title fight with Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel is only focused on his performances from race to race, despite appearing to hold the upper hand over Lewis Hamilton in the Formula 1 title fight. Although Hamilton moved to the top of the standings with victory in Baku, Mercedes' reigning champion has admitted he is uncomfortable with his performances in 2018.

Vettel's poor fortune under the safety car and a puncture for Valtteri Bottas opened the door for a below-par Hamilton in Azerbaijan.

Ferrari's improvements have helped Vettel take three pole positions on the bounce, although only one was converted into a victory - Bahrain.

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The Scuderia are once again tipped to impress at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, with a host of upgrades featured up and down the grid, but Vettel will not allow his focus to drift towards the business-end of the season, having slipped from an apparent position of strength in 2017 to lose out to Hamilton.

"At the beginning of the season you don't know how strong you can be," Vettel said. "But I think that so far we can be happy.

"We have been very competitive and we've had a chance to fight for the win during most of the races so far.

"Having said that, there are still many races to go, so it is pointless to talk about what will happen at the end of the championship. Right now I think it is important to maximize everything in the race.

"It is natural that we want to win, so if you get the best result every weekend and are in a position to fight for the championship, then it will be good news.

"But we cannot say too much before. I believe that small things can make the difference. We'll keep working on updates and see what they can bring."