![]() Mercedes even made a strategic mistake with a mid-race Safety Car that could have allowed Hamilton to even fight for the win if he pitted, but the team preferred to preserve track position with both cars. Hamilton’s Pole at Silverstone was one for the ages, but a tangle with Raikkonen at the start of the race meant he could only recover to P2. Vettel and Ferrari celebrate at Hamilton’s home It was the first double-DNF for the Mercs since the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix and the first retirement for Hamilton since the 2016 race at Malaysia, snapping his run of 33 consecutive races in the points, a record at the time. In the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, the two Mercedes cars retired with mechanical issues after starting 1-2 on the grid. Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull had taken two wins apiece in the first six rounds, and that was followed for one win for each, as Verstappen delivered another win for the Austrian team in the year and their first at home. The second race of Formula 1’s first-ever triple header was in Austria, home of Red Bull. After taking only fifth at Montreal, Hamilton struck back at France, in a race in which Vettel crashed into Bottas at the start of the race. Then, Ferrari returned to form in Canada and Vettel added to his two victories with a dominant performance in Montreal, in front of Bottas and Verstappen. ![]() Ricciardo displayed the car’s capabilities on Saturday with Pole and on Sunday, beating his rivals and an engine issue on his car to take his first victory at Monaco, ahead of Vettel and Hamilton. Verstappen crashed out of FP3 and missed qualifying, which was a big blow for him at a track where the RB14 was the dominant car. ![]() Hamilton then found his stride and led a Mercedes 1-2 in Spain, with Vettel fourth. Sergio Pérez was third for Force India after taking advantage of Vettel’s struggling tyres in the end. Bottas then suffered a puncture due to debris and Hamilton went on to take his and Mercedes’ first triumph of the year, but Ferrari still had the better package. Vettel attempted to overtake Bottas after the restart and ran wide, allowing Hamilton and Raikkonen through. At Azerbaijan, Vettel was again on Pole, but a late Safety Car took his lead off and favored Bottas. Mercedes strikes backįor the first time since 2013, Mercedes did not win any of the first three races of the year. Vettel finished a lowly eighth after being almost taken out by a desperate attempt to overtake by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. A late Safety Car gave the Red Bull drivers a chance to pit and Daniel Ricciardo emerged as the winner after a series of great overtaking. In the third race, at China, Vettel was again leading, before Mercedes pulled off an undercut with Bottas. Vettel managed to win at Bahrain ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton, who started behind the order with a grid penalty. However, it all changed with a horrible pitstop for the Finnish champion, in which a Ferrari mechanic -Francesco Cigarini- had his leg broken by a rear tyre. Racing begins with commanding wins for Ferrariĭespite an amazing Pole Position from Hamilton at Australia in his Mercedes W09, it was Sebastian Vettel who landed the first punch of the year after taking advantage of a Virtual Safety Car provoked by the Haas cars to take the lead and win for the second straight year at Melbourne.Ī 1-3 in the first race for Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen third, was followed by what seemed to be an easy 1-2 at Bahrain, with Vettel leading. The halo was not developed by each team, as the FIA dictated which were the approved suppliers from which the team would purchase the models. In fact, in a heavy crash which involved two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc, the halo ended up saving the Monegasque talent after preventing a front-wing endplate of Alonso’s McLaren from hitting the visor of his helmet. Though the aesthetics of the halo were not especially the biggest, we saw in certain lower Formula crashes that it worked. The system consisted of a crown created to further increase cockpit protection and to deflect debris or tyres from the driver’s head. To start, some new technical regulations were introduced to enhance drivers’ safety, which brought upon us the Halo device. Hamilton equals Fangio with a glorious seasonĮveryone expected another Mercedes vs Ferrari fight for 2018, and to a point, that is what we got until Lewis Hamilton’s dominance showed up in the second half of an exciting and thrilling season.
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