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The 2018 season of FIA Formula One World Championship was another successful event. With drivers flaunting their best skills, the 69th edition of the Formula One World Championship concluded all well.
This season of Formula One unfolded many splendid moments as we got to see some great overtakes, wet race etc. Putting driving skills to the best of his abilities, the legendary Lewis Hamilton was able to grab his 5th World Driver's Championship title whereas Sebastian Vettel stood as runner up. While Hamilton lifted the World Championship title, his team Mercedes secured the World Constructors' Championship title, which was its 5th in a row.
Joining the winners's league, 2nd runner-up was the iceman Kimi Raikkonen while in the Contructors' Championship, Ferrrari stood 2nd and Red Bull Racing 3rd. Extreme zeal and enthusiasm of drivers along with their teams filled the 2018 season of Formula One World Championship wherein each driver tried to deliver his ace performance but with Hamilton clinching 11 GP wins, he took away all the glory and glamour of the season.
Now let's look at five of the best races of 2018:
#5 British Grand Prix
As it was announced earlier that the 2019 British Grand Prix would be the last to be held at super amazing Silverstone circuit, we already know it's going to be the toughest goodbye. Firstly we got to see the splendid qualifying sessions in recent times where top 3 drivers were separated with mere 0.098 seconds. Even before we got to witness the splendid finale, we saw a fascinating battle between Raikkonen who got a penalty for hitting Hamilton, and Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz and Grosjean collided at copse corner to force the second safety car in and everyone awaited the grand finish. It was an anxious sight where everyone thought that Bottas might maintain his lead but Vettel cleverly marched his way forward with the chequered flag fast approaching and successfully bagged the British Grand Prix win wherein Hamilton bagged the second spot on the podium.
#4 Brazilian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton had already secured his 5th World Championship title by the time Brazil GP came and Mercedes was all set to have its 5th Constructors' Championship title. But, as it is said, you never know what's in store for the future, we got to see some big fights between the toughest drivers throughout the course of this race. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing were all putting up with their best strategies to steal the show.
Verstappen was in close call with Vettel, Raikkonen and Boltas until he met his old Formula 3 rival Esteban Ocon. When contact was made at turn 2, Vestappen faced the wrong way and that easily allowed Hamilton to take on the lead. With a damaged RB14, victory felt only like a dream to him and Hamilton smartly marched his way to the victory with only 5.2 seconds that separated the top 4 at Interlagos.
#3 German Grand Prix
Having suffered a breakdown in Q1, Hamilton totally looked out of order in German GP while Vettel was gearing up all well to break his duck at Hockenheimring. As the day unfolded, Vettel seemed more and more frustrated due to inappropriate team strategies and the unexpected rain showers added to his misery. Now it was all expected that home favourites are going to make the headlines until Vettel lost his control at Sachskurve and hit the barriers.
The safety car came and it led to Vettel's dramatic exit. Now it was much clear that Hamilton will drive his way forward to take a lead but some panicking radio message created much chaos on the track. When safety cars peeled away again, Hamilton took the advantage and led on his way for the amazing victory. A 9-point deficit to Vettel changed into a 17-point advantage and that is why we say it's always unpredictable!
#2 United States Grand Prix
When Hamilton went down on pole and Vettel was down in P5 due to a mistake, everyone anticipated that this championship battle was over and all awaited a rocking plot twist. Iceman definitely had the best plan in mind and he found a way past Hamilton at the start only. The drama and action began when Raikkonen, Hamilton and Verstappen started battling for victory with different set of strategies and they were too close together in the final few laps.
It was a pitiful sight when we saw Ricciardo retiring and Vettel getting spinned out in first lap which forced yet another recovery drive. Another set of stories were spreading after the race when Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen retired due to fuel issues. With the end in sight, Raikkonen grabbed his first victory in 2044 days and definitely it was one super amazing performance by him.
#1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
After witnessing the super successful 2017 season in the capital of Azerbaijan, the expectations in this season were too high and all awaited an adrenaline rush. To be honest, it lived up to the expectations and maybe soared higher. There were several unexpected events starting with Ocon and Sirotkin's early retirements. Nico Hulkenberg got victimized by DNF before we witnessed an absolutely infamous clash between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
Grosjean crashed behind the safety car and even Vettel lost his chances of making to the podium at turn 1. Lewis Hamilton was smart and fortunate enough to grab the victory and was joined by Kimi Raikkonen and most notably, Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc got into the limelight with a P6 finish and Fernando Alonso outshone others by bringing half a car back to the pits on lap one and managed to finish P7.
This race will truly keep revolving down our memory lane for long.
