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Former F1 driver, Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, joined the BBC team to offer insight and analysis from the competitors' point of view.
The final of Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi has been a big part of the 2018 season.
There was a lot of drama, especially at the beginning, moments of real excitement in the middle, which culminated in an exciting final, which finally went to nothing with a few laps to go, Sebastian Vettel not being able to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the victory. .
Overall, the track season was excellent, and my three star drivers of the season were also in good shape in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis Hamilton
First, of course, the world champion. What season Lewis Hamilton had and how to conclude in Abu Dhabi.
Prior to this year, Hamilton had yet to win any race of the season after winning the title. This time, he took pole and won the two remaining races, ending a dominant year in emphatic style.
His Sunday win was one of the most unobtrusive. After taking pole just 0.12 seconds ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas on Saturday, he set the podium at the start of the race, which seemed a bold call from Mercedes.
But while Bottas struggled after his own stop and reduced order, Hamilton controlled the situation perfectly. He beat his teammate, who had gone next to him on the grid, nearly 50 seconds.
The comparison between Hamilton and Bottas is striking this year. During the first half, it was a lot tighter, but you felt that Hamilton had the advantage. The second half was a demolition.
After mid-race at Silverstone, Hamilton won eight of the remaining 11 races. Bottas has only scored four podiums and has not won the entire season, finishing at 161 points from his teammate.
Bottas is a good driver and he points out how good Hamilton has been this year.
I can not think of a more impressive performance on the part of a driver during a whole season than that of Hamilton.
Max Verstappen
My second driver of the year is Max Verstappen. He is undeniably super talented. He is incredibly fast but prone to having a cool head and making mistakes.
But during this season, he became an almost complete pilot.
Verstappen cashed a lot of points after Monaco, where he dropped to training and had to go to the back. It was the last of a series of mistakes made at the start of the races. He had the pace but was still making mistakes – he had incidents in the first six race weekends.
But boy has reversed the situation. The podiums of the last five races – including a win in Mexico, a win in Brazil and a second place finish in 18th place on the grid in Austin – show its potential for next year.
Standing fourth in the championship, just two points behind Kimi Raikkonen, is an extraordinary feat considering his difficult start to the season and the lack of competitiveness of his Red Bull team, especially in the middle of the season.
Verstappen made another strong run Sunday, recovering from a bad start that put him at the top of the top 10 and was bothering his car early because of engine overheating problems.
He showed his extreme aggression in the car with movements on Force India's Esteban Ocon at the start of the race then Bottas late, having minor contact with both.
This shows that there is always an element of risk in his driving, which, if someone is fighting for a title, is not ideal, but at least for the moment, Verstappen is doing well things, while at the beginning of the year it had cost him dearly. .
Charles Leclerc
My third year pilot is the man who moves to Ferrari to associate with Sebastian Vettel in 2019.
Charles Leclerc had a great weekend in Abu Dhabi, qualifying comfortably in the top 10 before climbing to fourth place in his Sauber, legitimately surpassing Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull.
Sauber faced it too early, which bogged him down in traffic for much of the race, but he showed an impressive racing technique at the height of his obvious pace.
Leclerc had a lot of pressure at the start of the season after an outstanding performance in Formula 2 and his start in a team struggling in junior Ferrari.
But for a rookie, he was incredibly consistent, making only a few mistakes, after some fragile first few races.
Sauber is the most improved team this year, and I'm sure a significant part of that performance is due to Leclerc pulling the pace of the car and giving the team a new motivation.
An enticing prospect for 2019
Hopefully these three drivers will be big rivals next year, each in one of the top three teams.
Three-car battles for late-season wins added an extra dimension to each race and made them even more exciting.
The chances of Verstappen next year depend heavily on Honda's new partnership with Red Bull, which has abandoned its 12-year partnership with Renault.
Red Bull has a superb chassis. The fact that they won the races this year, despite a significant power deficit compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, highlights it well.
If Honda can be a Renault upgrade, as Red Bull wishes, it will certainly be a threat, especially if Verstappen can keep his form at the end of the season.
Leclerc can be a big threat for the Ferrari next year. It's one of the things that excites me the most. He will occupy the number two position ahead of Vettel, but it is quite possible that he can outperform the German, win races and even meet his own challenge for the title.
I'm sure Vettel will be wary of his arrival in the team, especially after his experience with Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2014, where the young driver has upset the establishment.
As for Hamilton, he leads at his best level, has a team that is recognized winner behind him and seems to enjoy his race more than ever. It will be so difficult to stop in 2019, but the other two stars of 2018 will give everything they can to do exactly that.
Farewell to a legend
One last word for another 2018 star and Formula 1 in general. Fernando Alonso has been superb this season in a sad McLaren.
Penetrating into the top 10 of the drivers 'championship last day, Alonso still managed to secure sixth place in the constructors' standings. An incredible feat considering that McLaren often had the slowest car or the slowest car. this year.
To finish the season with a 21-0 record against teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in the qualifying series, Alonso is still performing well.
Just like at Bottas at Mercedes, Vandoorne is not left out, but he was forced to appear second-rate this year, to the point that he left the F1 for 2019.
Alonso will be a big miss for F1 as a whole. He is one of the greats and, personally, it was a pleasure to run him in 2016 and 2017.
Alonso has been plagued by off-road policy and bad decisions in F1. And with regard to karma, he is certainly about to recover as he tries to complete the triple crown in 2019 by adding a win at the Indianapolis 500 to his F1 and Le Mans titles.
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