Ross Brawn has said that Formula 1 is delighted with an epic battle for the 2017 world championship.

Long before he became the new F1 sporting boss, Brawn was the technical chief at Ferrari for Michael Schumacher's legendary title battles against Mika Hakkinen.

"Formula 1 has a legendary duel again," he told Sport Bild.

"At that time, it was Michael and Mika electrifying the masses, and today it's Sebastian [Vettel] and Lewis [Hamilton]."

Earlier, Ferrari struggled at the higher speed circuits like Spa and Monza, but now it appears that the Italian team has caught up with Mercedes.

Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg told Sport1: "I can imagine it will remain as close as it was between Vettel and Hamilton at Spa until the very end."

The championship continues with the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.