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The 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship is the 72nd running of the Championship since its inception. It is considered as the pinnacle of open-wheel racing cars wherein drivers as well as teams get drenched in competitive spirit and will fight for glory in the 21 Grand Prix scheduled this year for the World Driver's and World Constructor's Championship titles. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are the defending World Champions with Ferrari and Redbull being their main rivals.
As of now, the F1 new is Lewis Hamilton leads the Drivers' Championship by 17 points despite his title rival Sebastian Vettel winning more races. In the Constructors title fight, Mercedes AMG F1 team is 27 points ahead of Ferrari heading into Monaco.
The Monaco Grand Prix which is the grandest race of the year which is included in the 'Triple Crown of Motorsport' is all set to take place this weekend.and has all eyes glued up.
2018 season would definitely be a grand affair to witness with some significant talks and changes taking place. Here are some of them
#5 Not enough justice meted to the Iceman- Kimi Raikkonen
It is very much visible that Raikkonen has matched shoulders with Sebastian at most of the events but still Ferrari is favoring the latter more. The disastrous pit stops were the reasons why Raikkonen could not make it to the podium as often as his teammate. Ferrari should place an equal attention on both the drivers and work on the pit strategies. Hence it is assumed that he would have a mediocre season and may get a year extension at the Italian team.
#4 Future World Champion in the making- Charles Leclerc
The super talented young hero from Monaco, Charles Leclerc is assumed to be a future World Champion. He is currently driving for the Sauber team which is backed by Alpha Romeo and Ferrari being the engine supplier, there is no surprise if we get to see him at the Ferrari camp in the future. He already has two prominent titles to his credit- GP3 series in 2016 and FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017. With just five Formula One starts in his career, he has scored nine points outperforming his experienced team-mate Ericsson with just two points in the driver standings. We definitely believe that this is just a sign of glory which is yet to come.
#3 Stroll and Sirotkin off the mark
It seems the Williams duo have been struggling quiet a lot this year and unable to find the right balance in most races. It is said that they still have plenty to learn and can take assistance from hugely experienced Robert Kubica who has been appointed as reserve driver for Williams. Kubica has not driven in F1 since 2011 due to his injury but has great experience to call upon as compared to19-year-old Stroll and 22-year-old Sirotkin who have made to just 22 Grands Prix combined till date. Ed Wood, the chief engineer of the team who has been instrumental in team's success has left due to personal reasons.
#2 Max Verstappen with Max Crashes in 2018.
Red Bull racing driver Max Verstappen has been in the F1 news for his driving skills in the wet and his attacking driving style in the past. Things have turned ugly this season for Max, he almost crashed into Hamilton in the Bahrain GP but he didn't miss the target at the Chinese Grand Prix where he crashed into Vettel's Ferrari for which he was awarded a penalty. He also was involved in a huge crash with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Max should control his aggression in the future and make more mature maneuvers to avoid such crashes in the future else we could see a few more as the season progresses.
#1Pirelli tyres too good? Refueling and more pit stops can fuel the excitement.
Most races were won or lost as a result of pit stops this season. They have been the deciding factor majorly in these 3 races (Australian GP, Chinese GP, Azerbaijan GP). Overtaking has drastically reduced over the years and become a strenuous task in these hybrid cars.
The drivers are finding it difficult to stay in the slipstream due to the complex aerodynamic components in this hybrid F1 cars and have been complaining of tyre degradation and overheating while trying to stay in the slipstream of the car in the front.
The Pirelli tyre has become very consistent this season and a single pit stop has significantly reduced the excitement level for fans around the world. Gone are the days where pit lane poker decided the F1 races and hence it poses a big question. Should Refuelling be back? and should Pirelli work on their tyre compounds to make things more exciting?
