Five best races of the 2018 season

We were treated to fantastic action throughout the year. Here are our five best races of the 2018 season …

5 – British Grand Prix

As it stands, the 2019 British Grand Prix is ​​expected to be the last to take place on the iconic Silverstone circuit.

The race of 2018 showed more concrete evidence, if any, that this simply should not be allowed. It's way too good to say goodbye.

First we had one of the most electrifying qualifying sessions of the recent period, with only 0.098 seconds between Lewis Hamilton's top three, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton was attempting to win a record sixth British Grand Prix win, but that dream quickly vanished by bogging in at first, then quickly turning into a Raikkonen rotation.

In a few moments, from P1 to P18, Hamilton had to make his way through the pack.

After only 11 laps, he was back in P6 and ready to play his part in an exciting battle between the Formula One heavyweights, brought about by the rapid introduction of no, but two safety cars.

Marcus Ericsson forced the first SC to cross flat corner 1 with its wide open DRS flap and crashed at around 190 mph.

While he was unharmed, the incident caused Ferrari and Red Bull to double their cars in the pit lane, while Mercedes remained outside and was trying to defend his car. position on the track.

Even before we found ourselves in a fascinating finale, there was a great battle between Raikkonen, who had served his 10-second sentence for hitting Hamilton, and Max Verstappen, via Brooklands and Luffield.

Then Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean collided at Copse's corner to force the second car safety and slowly create tension as we waited for the finish of the stands.

That did not disappoint either, with Bottas valiantly defending his lead before Vettel flew majestically to take the lead again as the checkered flag approached.

Hamilton also found a way to win the P2 with Raikkonen finishing last on the podium.

4 – Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton had already completed his fifth world championship title as Brazil showed up and Mercedes was about to add a fifth constructors' championship. This race should have been a mere formality.

However, we were treated to an end-of-season treat with some of the big Formula 1 dogs competing closely throughout the race – something we unfortunately do not see very often.

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all had different strategies and that is the last team that came into being thanks to a powerful push from Max Verstappen.

He dispatched Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, before doing the light work of Valtteri Bottas. The Dutchman then targeted Hamilton, who would become a point in the mirrors of Verstappen.

That was until, of course, Verstappen met his former Formula 3 rival, Esteban Ocon, who was trying to clear off the race leader.

The contact was taken at turn 2 and Verstappen, facing the wrong way, could only watch the fury as Hamilton pbaded by to take the lead again.

With a damaged RB14, the match was over for Verstappen. But, he continued to push (in any way, he turned out) to be on the brink of winning what would have been a deserved victory.

Only 5.2 seconds separated the top four at Interlagos, while Daniel Ricciardo, on a recovery mission, forced Raikkonen to work hard to keep his spot on the podium.

Let's hope that the new aerodynamic regulation of 2019 will lead to a closer action as in this race.

3 – Grand Prix of Germany

A race of biblical proportions … and we are not just talking about the weather.

While Lewis Hamilton did not seem to claim victory in the race after a breakdown in Q1 on Saturday, goalkeeper Sebastian Vettel was ready to break his duck at Hockenheim and extend his lead at the World Championship.

But the longer the afternoon went on, the more frustrated Vettel was.

A difference in strategy allowed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to lead the race mid-way and, in turn, affect the performance of Vettel's tire as he struggled in the air.

It seems like the tragedy is over once Raikkonen finally gives way to Vettel, but the very localized rain showers that have happened have turned this race into a frenzy, with the local favorite making all the headlines … for the wrong reasons .

We could hear gasps from all over the world as Vettel, in increasingly slippery conditions, lost control of Sachskurve and hit the barrier at the sight of the podium where his fans were.

The match ended for a helpless Vettel, but he summed up the chaos caused by interchangeable weather conditions.

The ground was dry on some parts of the track and wet on others, which caused tire play on the ground.

At one stage of the race, the ultrasoft, the softs, the mediums, the middlemen and the full wets (looking at you, Pierre Gasly and Toro Rosso) were all exposed.

Valtteri Bottas and Raikkonen entered the pits as the safety car came into effect after Vettel's spectacular exit. It looked as if Hamilton, who had made his way from the 14th place on the grid, was going to do the same until a whole host of panicked radio messages so the Briton reduced the track of stands and kept what could have been considered an unfathomable advance early in the afternoon.

When the safety car took off again, Hamilton, with some team controls, resisted a Bottas attack on his cooler tires, while, further down the grid, players like Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez provided more fireworks with towers. the difficult conditions.

Hamilton held out for a remarkable win, but he had to wait impatiently for the stewards' verdict to review his pit stop.

A nine-point deficit at Vettel is suddenly transformed into a 17-point advantage. How fast things can change in Formula 1.

2 – United States Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen to the rescue!

With Lewis Hamilton on pole and Sebastian Vettel in P5 (for lack of an error) then P15 at the end of the first lap (see previous parenthesis), it was expected that this "battle" of the World Championship was finally over.

We were all in a pleasant surprise.

While Raikkonen was in sight at Ferrari, he won his first victory in 2044 days, a victory in two years.

After finding a way around Hamilton initially, he then held the Brit in pursuit of the title and bet in a dummy for the pit lane for good measure as well.

The drama and tension were growing, while Raikkonen, Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who were recovering quickly, were all fighting for victory for alternative strategies.

They were so close to each other in the last rounds that you could have thrown them a tablecloth. It was fascinating to watch.

There was still a lot to do behind the first three.

The agony of seeing Daniel Ricciardo withdraw again with a reliability problem, anguish to see Vettel leave in the first round and be forced to another resumption, chaos through the resources that led to the retirement of Romain Grosjean, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.

The scenarios follow each other after the race. Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen are both disqualified for fuel problems, giving Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson rare points.

This race almost took first place.

1 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Bravo Baku. After the absolute madness of the 2017 race in the Azerbaijani capital, his successor managed to completely exceed our own very high expectations.

Where to even start? After three sharp turns, Esteban Ocon and Sergey Sirotkin retired and were chewed and spit by this very ruthless circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg became another early victim of DNF before the infamous collision between Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, who had been on the cards most of the afternoon.

Romain Grosjean crashed behind the safety car; Valtteri Bottas was cruelly denied a well-deserved victory with the checkered flag almost in sight when a debris caused a puncture at the end of the race and Sebastian Vettel missed his chances by being a bit too daring in turn 1.

Lewis Hamilton was the lucky winner and was joined on the podium by Kimi Raikkonen and, more specifically, Sergio Perez.

Charles Leclerc officially joined Formula 1 with a P6 and Fernando Alonso undeniably stole the show by bringing a half car to the stand in the first round and eventually finishing P7 for a third consecutive race.

We are out of breath re-reading this. A mad, crazy race that will live long in the memory.

Mark Scott

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