Wolff highlights turning point in title race

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that Lewis Hamilton's victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza was the turning point of the 2018 Formula 1 championship race, as it was vital for the Silver Arrows to recover after losing to Ferrari in their home Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Wolff's team were embroiled in a fierce championship battle with Ferrari in the first half of the campaign, but a downturn in form for both the Scuderia and Sebastian Vettel allowed Mercedes and Hamilton to win both titles.

For Mercedes, this meant they continued their perfect record of winning every championship in the V6 hybrid era. For this year's victory, Wolff reckons Italy was the turning point.

“There were two moments, one very difficult, one where it actually turned in our favour,” Wolff said at FIA prize gala.

“The very difficult one was losing the British Grand Prix. As you can imagine, it’s Lewis’ home Grand Prix and our team is based in Brackley.

“Losing on a track where it was a track where we’ve always performed well was very difficult. But we collected all the energy within the organisation and came back strong.”

“For me the turning point was Monza, because we were able to win in Italy, and from then on we had a few Grands Prix where we were extremely strong.

“We were extremely strong in Singapore which was not our favourite track in the past, and we were able to just have a really good car and Lewis had an unbelievable lap to qualify on pole.

“This is where I felt the momentum go in our direction.”

As well as Mercedes winning the constructor's championship. Hamilton's driver's title win put him on five in his career, matching the tally of Juan Manuel Fangio.

MORE: Hamilton wants alternative to 'super-easy' F1 role
MORE: Vettel doesn't know whether Leclerc will bring 'unnecessary politics'