F1 Mid-Season Review: 5 best races on the calendar so far

The 2018 Formula One season has been full of drama and excitement thus far and has us on the edge of our seats heading into the second half of the calendar.

The usual suspects in Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have proved their worth to Mercedes and Ferrari respectively, but amid the sparring between the two, a few other worthy challengers have also emerged. In fact, don't be surprised if unlikely race winners end up deciding where the World Championship heads this year.

But to many it is clear that either Hamilton or Vettel will end up claiming the crown this time around, with the former currently in the lead on the back of two recent victories that exposed a few flaws in the Ferrari ranks.

Nonetheless, this F1 season has had its fair share of thrills and spills, and if the recent past is any indication, a lot more could be in store for racing fans the world over. Keeping that in mind, here are the 5 best races on the calendar this season:

#5 French Grand Prix (Winner: Lewis Hamilton)

Vettel and Bottas collided at turn one

Lewis Hamilton may have gone on to dominate the French Grand Prix this season, but the story may well have been very different.

After a strong showing in qualifying, Hamilton's partner Valtteri Bottas was widely considered as being the strongest competitor to his teammate after narrowly missing out on pole position but starting at the front of the grid.

However, all that changed on turn one after Sebastian Vettel tagged Bottas and caused a collision between the two drivers resulting in the Finn losing all chances of a podium and ending up in seventh place instead following a puncture. Vettel himself recovered well enough to finish in fifth.

Regardless, it was smooth sailing for Hamilton after that and Max Verstappen emerged as a worthy second place holder while Kimi Raikkonen barely kept the Ferraris alive by finishing third.

#4 Chinese Grand Prix (Winner: Daniel Ricciardo)

Ricciardo won an eventful race

Ferrari must have been licking their lips in the pit-garage after a brilliant qualifying session that ended with Sebastian Vettel in pole position and Kimi Raikkonen a close second.

But as has been seen so many times before in F1, nothing can be taken for granted. Despite a strong start to the race for Vettel, the safety car ended up playing foul for many of the front-runners in a dramatic race after an incident between the two Toro-Rosso cars.

Out of the smoke emerged an unlikely Daniel Ricciardo who used his iconic overtaking ability to get past the field while also being aided by his teammate Max Verstappen, who shunted Vettel off the track which resulted in the German finishing in eighth place.

It was a famous win for Red Bull and Ricciardo from sixth place at the start of the race and highlighted his true driving prowess.

#3 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Winner: Lewis Hamilton)

Hamilton won a chaotic race

If there was ever one word to describe the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it would have to be chaotic. The race was full of drama from the get-go with double punctures, suspension damage and front-wing damage all on show. This resulted in a definite safety car early on.

A second safety car was needed after the two Red Bulls hit each other on lap 40, causing a massive stir and changing up the order of position yet again. Just when it looked like Valtteri Bottas would notch up a famous win, the Finn suddenly suffered a puncture and was forced to retire soon after, resulting in his teammate Hamilton taking the race lead.

Sergio Perez of Force India remarkably took advantage of the chaos as well and ended up with a podium finish while pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel could only finish fourth.

#2 Austrian Grand Prix (Winner: Max Verstappen)

Verstappen won a memorable race

Mercedes dominated qualifying with a one-two finish heading into the final race on Sunday, but the Austrian GP would end up being memorable for a very different team after all was said and done.

Despite the qualifying heroics, Mercedes suffered big time during the race and Valtteri Bottas was the first to retire after a gearbox failure and his teammate Hamilton joined him in retirement on lap 64 with a fuel pressure problem, resulting in utter disaster for the team.

In the mean-time, local team Red Bull kept their faith in young Max Verstappen who masterfully beat off the threat of Raikkonen and Vettel to win a truly momentous race in Austria.

#1 German Grand Prix (Winner: Lewis Hamilton)

Hamilton somehow won this race

Lewis Hamilton's disastrous qualifying run at the Hockenheimring in Germany must have had the Briton twitching heading into the final race, but fate had something totally different in store for him.

After starting 14th, Hamilton took advantage of changing weather conditions on track to slowly make his way up the order which was led by his closest Championship challenger Sebastian Vettel. But the wet conditions came back to haunt the German driver on his home turf as he slid off track and retired. Hamilton caused himself a few problems too after aborting a pit stop at the very last second, but was only reprimanded for his actions and ended up finishing in first place with his Mercedes partner Bottas in second.