How Lewis Hamilton won and Sebastian Vettel lost the 2018 World Championship

A look at the key moments of the season and how Lewis Hamilton beat Sebastian Vettel in his quest to beat his opponent to a fifth world champion title this year – and on the sequence of events that helped the first to conclude, with two further spare races.

Vettel early benefit

The winter tests left little doubt in the minds: Ferrari had a very competitive race car for 2018. However, the Australian Grand Prix seemed to sow doubt as to the proximity of the season. Lewis Hamilton clinched a comfortable pole position on Saturday. Subsequently, he joked to Vettel that he had enjoyed "erasing the smile from your face".

But it would be Vettel who would smile Sunday afternoon, while a blunder of the Mercedes strategy gave Ferrari the first win of the season. Mercedes had miscalculated an untimely virtual safety car (VSC) and Vettel was able to get out of his pit stop with his head and finally the win.

In Bahrain, Hamilton was forced to take the ninth place after a penalty for a new gearbox. That meant Vettel and Valtteri Bottas would fight for victory. Vettel would remain hooked despite late pressure, while Hamilton finished third. The strongest F1 season start that Ferrari has seen since 2004 had sparked the enthusiasm of the Maranello team.

Points after the second round:
Vettel – 50
Hamilton – 33

Hamilton defends himself, Vettel commits his first mistake

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen led a lockout at the top of Ferrari – what the Sky Sports pundit, Damon Hill, compared to "successive empires". But the race was dramatic: once again, Bottas and Vettel were fighting for a

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo would be victorious after capitalizing on a period of safety cars at the right time to play new tires. His teammate, Max Verstappen, had made a similar stop, but several clumsy maneuvers put him out of action. One of them also dismissed Vettel from third place and relegated him to the background. Hamilton would take the last place on the podium, Vettel having to settle for eighth place.

In Azerbaijan, Vettel would make his first significant mistake of the year. As he battled Bottas for the win, he found himself stuck in Turn 1 and rolled away, damaging his tires and finding himself in fourth position. Instead of scoring 25 or 18 points, he left with 12 points. What's even more damaging from the championship point of view is that a late puncture for Bottas would put the win back to Hamilton. The Englishman then won another victory in Spain, where Vettel would also finish fourth after losing behind Verstappen in strategy.

Points after the fifth round:
Hamilton – 95
Vettel – 78
Points dropped by Vettel: 13

Trade exchanges

In Monaco, Ricciardo scored the pole for Red Bull and maintained his victory despite a persistent engine problem. Vettel would finish second in front of Hamilton but any idea that Ricciardo and Red Bull would be an underdog of the championship would fade away in the races that followed. In Canada, Mercedes has not delivered its latest engine specifications on one of the most sensitive circuits in the network. Vettel beat Bottas for the pole, the Finn again imposing himself as the strongest of the two Mercedes riders: Hamilton s fourth qualified and would finish fifth, while Vettel won another comfortable win.

After what she called an alarm clock, Mercedes fought back in France with her own lockout in the front row. Hamilton moved away cleanly, but Vettel ran into Bottas at first, forcing him to be fifth. It was another mistake and allowed Hamilton to take the lead in the championship. Another drama was on the horizon.

Points after the eighth round:
Hamilton – 145
Vettel – 131
Points dropped by Vettel: 8 (21 total)

Mercedes on the back foot

The next two rounds were hard shots for Mercedes' chances in the league. In Austria, the strategy was spoiled before both cars withdrew with engine problems, allowing Max Verstappen to beat Raikkonen and Vettel – which Ferrari chose not to change – for a shock victory. Vettel wondered what it could have been after he had unnecessarily incurred a penalty on the grid due to Carlos Sainz's blocking during qualifying. Although he left Austria with an increased lead over Hamilton, he would have won the race without penalty.

At the British Grand Prix, Hamilton would collide with Raikkonen at the start and, despite a thrilling retreat, would rank second behind Vettel – the Ferrari driver's victory with an exciting Bottas pbad. It seemed like a significant moment. After taking the flag, Vettel opened his onboard radio channel to proudly declare: "Now we take the British flag and hang it on Maranello", before Hamilton and Mercedes suggest that the team had implored Raikkonen to hit Hamilton during the first round.

Leaving Silverstone, it seemed like the championship was heading for Ferrari. That would change a lot in Hockenheim.

Points after turn 10:
Vettel – 171
Hamilton – 163
Points dropped by Vettel: 10 (31 total)

Vettel crumbles under pressure

The German Grand Prix seemed to be another opportunity for Vettel and Ferrari to badert its advantage. After the victory at Silverstone, the team was on a positive point. After seeing Hamilton's car stopped in Q1 after contact with the curbs caused a hydraulic fluid leak, Vettel led another full Ferrari lockout in the front row. It was a huge opportunity to widen the gap.

It turned out that the race that followed was going to change all the complexion of the season. As Hamilton defended through the field, Vettel led comfortably – then the rain came. When conditions got worse, Vettel made a non-binding mistake by clearing his head and producing one of the most memorable pictures of the season. In a crazy series of laps at the end, Hamilton would take the lead, delay his team-mate Bottas before Mercedes ends the competition, and then defeat after a late investigation by the stewards. the period of the safety car that followed the Vettel accident. Hamilton later credited "a divine intervention" for what will surely be one of his most memorable career victories.

Points after turn 11:
Hamilton – 188
Vettel – 171
Points dropped by Vettel: 25 (56 total)

Agitation in Maranello

The disappointment on the right track was followed by a tragedy far from it for Ferrari. On Wednesday after the Hockenheim race, Ferrari confirmed the death of President Sergio Marchionne. Marchionne had retired for health reasons a few days ago. On Saturday in Budapest, a rain shower before the third quarter allowed Hamilton to take the pole position of Vettel thanks to one of his outstanding performances of the year.

Hamilton managed to convert that pole into victory the next day. The position on the track is paramount at Hungaroging. Vettel was therefore unable to convert Ferrari's top pace into a new win, aided by his teammate Bottas who was holding his rival at the championship at a crucial point in the race. As the summer vacation approached, most wondered why Vettel and Ferrari did not have a stronger lead in the championship. The response should be launched after the summer break …

Points after turn 12:
Hamilton – 213
Vettel – 189

The riposte of Ferrari falters

When the races resumed after the summer break in F1, Ferrari still had a one-lap advantage. However, the rain at Spa-Francorchamps on the qualifying day gave Hamilton an opportunity to cause another surprise and he lined up in front of Vettel on the grid of the Belgian Grand Prix. The joy, however, was short-lived as the first lap of the race revealed the weaknesses of the Mercedes and highlighted the strengths of the Ferrari, allowing Vettel to overtake Hamilton to take the lead in the first lap. He won the race 11 seconds in advance and it seemed that the long promised return by Ferrari had finally started. But Mercedes learned valuable lessons at Spa after struggling to get out of slow turns at the start and end of the lap.

These lessons proved crucial for the next races, in Monza a week later. Once again, Ferrari had the advantage of only one lap on the dry but during qualifying, it was Raikkonen and not Vettel who had taken advantage of it. Raikkonen took advantage of Vettel's third-quarter slip and took pole position with the smallest margin, with Vettel second and Hamilton third. Although slightly embarrbading for the Italian team, Ferrari was to replace his drivers later in the race to give Vettel maximum points. But if there was a plan to do it, he collapsed in the first corner when Raikkonen stood up to Vettel and left his teammate vulnerable to a Hamilton who was leaving quickly. Crossing the second chicane, Hamilton had his car next to Vettel and the two men made contact, the Ferrari making a U-turn and dropping in the back of the pack. Hamilton then beat Raikkonen in a fight for the win, rubbing the wounds of the Italian team.

Points after turn 14:
Hamilton – 256
Vettel – 226
Points dropped by Vettel: 13 (69 total)

Mercedes goes from the front despite a controversy

Despite the growing advantage held by Hamilton, Vettel was still considered the favorite before the Singapore Grand Prix. Of course, Hamilton had the results of the last races, but everything indicated that Ferrari still had the fastest car. The same thing seemed to be true in the Singapore trials, but when the qualifying started, Ferrari faltered. That should not take anything away from Hamilton's pole position, which he still talks about as being closest to perfection in an F1, but Vettel did not really understand it and took third place behind Max Verstappen. In the race, he managed to move up to second place, but a strategic bet against the Ferrari pit wall failed and he fell to third place in the pit stops where he remained for the rest of the race.

Perhaps the biggest delivery of Singapore was the pace that Mercedes had shown. Hamilton had excelled and, again, the engineers highlighted the lessons learned in Spa's slow turns to explain the turnaround. The next round in Russia should be a test as difficult as Singapore, but the advantage of Mercedes has increased. The only problem was that Bottas, not Hamilton, took the pole position, putting Mercedes in an awkward position, in the image of Ferrari at Monza. Perhaps learning from the mistakes made by their rivals, Mercedes ordered his drivers to swap their vehicle in the middle of the race, giving Hamilton the win, but creating an uncomfortable atmosphere within the team after the race . Nobody knew whether to celebrate a one or two with Bottas, but whatever the wrongs and the rights of the decision, Hamilton has 50 points ahead of five races. From that moment, the title was no longer in the hands of Vettel.

Points after turn 15:
Hamilton – 306
Vettel – 256
Points dropped by Vettel: 10 (69 total)

Ferrari implodes … again

Entering the Japanese Grand Prix seemed very dark for Vettel. He was now counting on Hamilton's mistakes, but that was – you guessed it – Ferrari was still making mistakes. The decision not to use the right tires for the conditions that preceded the last part of qualifying left Vettel eighth in the grid and needed everyone's resistance to fight against Mercedes, who once again has the car the fastest. He started well and finished fourth after a first safety car, but a too optimistic overtaking of the double on Verstappen for the third went wrong.

He managed to get back to sixth place after a rotation, but the result had once again moved Hamilton's crown a lap or two earlier.

Points after turn 17:
Hamilton – 331
Vettel – 246
Points dropped by Vettel: 10 (79 total)

Game, set and match for Hamilton

The contrasting form of the American Grand Prix duo allowed Hamilton to finish the championship in Austin, as he did in 2015. A penalty on the grid for Sebastian Vettel for an offense under the red flags seemed quick conclusion of the championship a formality. After taking pole position, Hamilton was beaten in Turn 1 by Kimi Raikkonen, who was able to control the pace of the race from there and win a popular victory. Hamilton would settle for third place after failing to overtake Verstappen – Vettel's recovery in fourth place meant the fight was going on in Mexico City.

Hamilton needed only a seventh place to secure the title in Mexico, and that meant Vettel won the race. The 71 laps of the Circuito Hermanos Rodriguez were far from simple, with all the best drivers struggling with tire problems. Although Vettel overtook Hamilton on track, the new world champion took the title with a 4th place. This was not the way he would have liked to launch his title celebrations, but it will have very little weight if the scale of his exploits plummets in the coming days.

Points after turn 19:
Hamilton – 358
Vettel – 294