F1: Top ten performances of the season so far

The 2018 Formula One season has proved riveting so far, providing in equal amounts, enthralling races as well as adroit racing. While a few Grands Prix might not have demanded undiverted attention throughout, the rest of them more than made up for it.

The championship battle is warming up, with the top two contenders, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, separated by eight points. Meanwhile, the constructor’s title is also continuously getting swapped between Ferrari and Mercedes, as the red team currently hold fort 20 points ahead of the Silver Arrows.

The race wins have been almost equally distributed between the top three teams, with Mercedes and Red Bull Racing scoring three apiece and the Prancing Horse notching up four.

The midfield teams have also contributed to interesting viewing, with almost all the teams continually in the mix to secure a position in the top ten. There have been various incidents that made us hold our breath and many more spectacular overtaking attempts that helped in the 2018 Formula One season as exciting as it has turned out to be.

With ten races out of the way, let us have a look at the top ten performances of the season so far:

#10 Sergio Perez in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Grand Prix was as eventful a race as it gets. Continuing the trend that began last year, the race has had a flurry of blink and you’ll miss incidents and left you catching your breath by the time the chequered flag was waved.

Apart from the top three teams, only one driver has managed to stand on the podium in 2018 and that was Sergio Perez. The Mexican racer maintained his composure, despite an early collision with Kimi Räikkönen causing front wing damage and being awarded a five-second penalty as a result of it.

Perez capitalized on the retirements of Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas to score the eighth podium of his career.

#9 Romain Grosjean in Austria

Romain Grosjean has had a dismal season so far. He hasn't been able to exploit all the chances available to him, but the one weekend where it all came together for him was during the Austrian Grand Prix.

The French racer qualified in P6, ahead of the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and started in 5th place because of Sebastian Vettel receiving a grid penalty. The race saw a double retirement from Mercedes and Ricciardo didn’t finish the race either because of an exhaust problem.

Romain remained ahead of teammate, Kevin Magnussen, and finished just one place adrift of the podium to claim his first points of the season.

#8 Pierre Gasly in Bahrain

The weekend in Bahrain was undoubtedly one of Pierre Gasly’s strongest performances in Formula One. The French driver qualified in 6th place, way ahead of his teammate, Brendon Hartley in 11th, and started P5 due to a gearbox penalty dealt to Lewis Hamilton.

The 22-year-old exceeded expectations when he drove his Toro Rosso to finish the race in 4th position. Despite look-see from the Kevin Magnussen in the Hass behind him, as well as trading places with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso during pit stops, Gasly ensured that his flawless drives reaped him benefits.

He finished well more than 10 seconds ahead of everyone else in the midfield to score his first points in Formula One.

#7 Lewis Hamilton in Spain

In terms of a race win, the Spanish Grand Prix was as straightforward as it gets. Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position in qualifying when he made a new track record with a time record of 1:16.173.

The Briton was in a league of his own, getting off the line perfectly to maintain his position. Even as chaos ensued at the back of the Mercedes, Lewis ensured that his restart after the safety car period left no room for anyone to gain an advantage on him.

So assured was the four-time world champion’s drive, that he encountered the chequered flag a good 20 seconds before anyone else.

#6 Fernando Alonso in Australia

Fernando Alonso is known for extracting everything available in the car allotted to him. However, in Australia, the Spaniard exceeded everybody’s expectations when he drove his McLaren to a fifth-place finish.

The two-time world champion started from 10th and wove his way up to fifth, buoyed by the double retirement of Hass drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, along with Carlos Sainz running off the track.

Alonso quickly made up places and even endured pressure from Max Verstappen in the later stages of the race to start the season with McLaren in the points.

#5 Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain

The Bahrain Grand Prix was packed with incidents for Ferrari. Despite the many issues affecting the team, the Red team managed a win.

Sebastian Vettel started the race from pole and was well on his way to secure his second win of the season and extend his lead in the championship when a pit lane incident made his task a tad more difficult. Teammate, Kimi Räikkönen had been released from the pit lane prematurely, injuring a Ferrari mechanic and causing a retirement for the Finnish driver.

Not only did Vettel manage to get to the chequered flag on tires that were fitted in his car on lap 18th, he did so with Valtteri Bottas right on the back of his Ferrari throughout the last few laps.

#4 Daniel Ricciardo in Monaco

Daniel Ricciardo, before Monaco 2018, had only managed a race win from as high as P4. His only two career pole positions have both come at Monaco, but while one race ended with making Daniel miserable, the other made up for it enough to be called ‘redemption’.

In 2018, the Australian ensured that he left no stone unturned to grab the trophy that had previously escaped him. The 29-year-old topped the timesheets in all three practice sessions and extended his dominance in qualifying by securing pole.

After a smooth start to the race, conditions looked grim for Ricciardo who had to practically become a car whisperer to guarantee a finish. With a loss of power caused due to an MGU-K failure and only six gears left to drive with, the man from Down Under was told to put his head down and manage the rest of his race.

Daniel managed to do exactly that, holding onto a race win by the skin of his teeth, even with Sebastian Vettel sitting in wait for an opportunity to get past the Red Bull driver.

#3 Max Verstappen in Austria

Upon starting the race in P4, Max Verstappen was aware of and willing to take any chances heading his way. So, when he saw an opportunity to overtake Kimi Räikkönen, he went for it and completed the maneuver as cleanly as possible to get into the top three.

Valtteri later retired, leaving the second place up for Max to grab. After the pit stops, Max emerged as the front-runner, and he held onto the lead despite the two Ferrari cars trailing him.

Max not only won his first race of the season, but he also delivered Red Bull Racing their first win around the Red Bull Ring.

#2 Charles Leclerc in Azerbaijan

In Baku, Charles Leclerc began his race in 13th and drove a race with an aplomb that transcended well beyond someone his age. While the well-experienced drivers around him were making mistakes, the Monegasque racer put his head down and ensured his team some well-earned points.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend was the first during which Charles had managed to qualify into Q2 and grab the 14th place for him, which was later improved due to Nico Hulkenberg’s grid penalty. After three mellow performances at the start of the season, the 20-year-old was quick to turn his fortune around and produce a stellar drive.

Leclerc has since finished a race in the points four times and only failed to do so when he retired, which no doubt was helped by the confidence he gained in Baku.

#1 Daniel Ricciardo in China

R3 of the 2018 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

The Chinese Grand Prix was a spectacle unto itself, providing various moments of clear racing and overtaking between the midfield as well as top teams. However, after everything had seemingly settled, a crash between the two Toro Rosso cars of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly brought mayhem back to the race.

The safety car brought out due to the collision helped the Red Bull drivers to quickly come into the pits for fresh rubber. Daniel Ricciardo made the most of the opportunity by producing a late-breaking move on Kimi Räikkönen to gain position.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, leaves the door open for his teammate to get past as he runs off track after trying to overtake Lewis Hamilton. The Australian started picking off his rivals as if he was running a different race entirely, pulling off spectacular overtaking maneuvers to finish the race in the lead.