Last season, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari emerged as the first genuine season-long threats to the dominance of Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes in the hybrid era thanks to the new design rules.The German four-time world champion would keep pace with his British rival all the way until just after the summer break - when a number of retirements and other issues allowed Hamilton to go on and join Vettel as a quadruple time champion.One of the critiques some had was the 30-year-old was too emotional and impulsive while racing,  leading to mistakes such as the crash at the start of the Singapore GP, whereas Lewis was more composed.That was something Ferrari themselves hoped Vettel would address to come back stronger in 2018 and at the start of the year it seemed the case as he was seemingly robotic as he won the first two races.Since then though, things have changed with more errors at key times resulting in Hamilton being the main beneficiary.In Baku, a race Seb led for the majority, he would lock up trying to pass Valtteri Bottas at a Safety Car restart, dropping down to fourth with Lewis winning.Then at Paul Ricard this past weekend, once again it was the Finn who was involved as the pair made contact at the first corner, dropping both down the field.

Vettel accepted the blame for causing the collision but having worked hard to close the gap back down to Hamilton, and indeed lead by a point heading to France, now he has it all to do again with a 14-point deficit heading to Austria this weekend.

Though what occurred wasn't anything over the top in terms of the Ferrari driver pushing too hard, it was just another situation that Hamilton never seems to find himself in and that is what keeps giving him the advantage over a full season.

Even after the low of a poor weekend in Canada, the Briton felt he had little to worry about, even suggesting Vettel and Ferrari would "falter" and two weeks later so it has proven.

Now the pressure is squarely back on the German with an immediate chance to respond at the Red Bull Ring this Sunday, however, with Hamilton likely to dominate at Silverstone and other venues coming up that should better suit the Mercedes, it is imperative Vettel stops offering gifts.

So far the title battle has ebbed and flowed with likely plenty more twists and turns between now and Abu Dhabi.

And for Hamilton, he perhaps showed why he is so good at delivering when it matters when asked about the championship on Sunday.

"Just one step at a time really, one race at a time," he told Sky Sports. "I hadn't really thought about it. But that's where I want to be [at the top]!

"There's a long way to go and we'll keep approaching the rest of the season like we approached today."