The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

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girry
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The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by girry »

Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton - it's difficult to praise Lewis too much. He's been solid as rock in qualifying, nearly faultless in races. What more could you ask?
2. Charles Leclerc - not completely sold on the kid yet, since stepping up is always gonna be a challenge, and Charles too had his share of blunders - however, as nobody else in the field pulled a great over-year performance, you have got to give it to the rookie haven't you?
3. Nico Hülkenberg - the deserving Formula 1.5 champion trounced his previously-fancied team-mate Sainz, hence he deserves a good rating. Just a couple of spectacular blunders dotted what was otherwise another rock solid season from the German. It's a shame the Hulk can only hope Ghosn's arrest will finally prompt Renault to actually invest in its team, otherwise the German risks never actually getting the fair shot.
4. Max Verstappen - only managed to amplify his reputation in 2018. Even more than last season, Max seems like the only guy who can genuinely out-do Hamilton behind the wheel with any consistency - but simultaneously the young Dutchman just keeps on showing his immaturity, which is casting a shadow on his ability to actually fight for a championship.
5. Pierre Gasly - the solidish early season performances earned him a shot some far more accomplished drivers will never get. Still, you can't blame Pierre for being in the right place at the right time. Overall, Gasly soundly out-did Hartley, and didn't do too many errors - hence such a high ranking.
6. Kimi Räikkönen - okay, he's clearly not as fast as Vettel. But nobody was expecting him to be anymore. For once at one with his setups, and rather showing his maturity and wheel-to-wheel skills on track than speed, the Finn would actually have outscored his error-prone German team-mate with luck equaled - none of the 4 retirements were his fault, and he was on the receiving end of the disastrous Ferrari #2 strategies more often than not. But I doubt Kimi truly even cared anymore, not after the feel-good farewell victory at Austin.
7. Kevin Magnussen - the Dangerous Dane didn't exactly make friends in the paddock but rescued his F1 career with some very strong performances early in the year. Here's hoping that K-Mag, too, will mature at some point of the his career before any bigger accidents happen...
8. Fernando Alonso - it may be harsh to rank Fred only 8th after a clean qualifying sweep over Vandoorne - but here on GPRejects we account for expectations too, and everybody already knew how fast he is. Pace was never the reason why Alonso's stuck in lower midfield, it's always been his character - and losing interest in the middle of what seemed to be every race at the end hasn't exactly changed this image. I do hope he goes full time Indycar in 2020, because I really doubt any top F1 team will risk hiring him anymore, which is fifty percent a huge shame and fifty percent entirely deserved - and because Alonso fighting for the win in a single seater is always a sight to behold.
9. Daniel Ricciardo - riddled with rotten luck, and probably an increasing lack of focus from his team's side towards the end of the year - but regardless, the sound beating from Verstappen didn't exactly improve Danny Ric's stock in general. Of course still, he scored two beautiful victories, of which at least China was one of the top 3 drives of the year overall.
10. Sergio Pérez - despite another great podium at Baku, the overriding image of his year remains his feud with Ocon and especially the disastrous Singapore race, a reminder of his character and the reason why despite his great race pace, no top team has touched him with a barge pole for the last 5 years.
11. Esteban Ocon - again demonstrated how he is a super-solid qualifier - yet as is the case with his team-mate, people will remember Esteban's year for other things. Frustration must have got the better of him at the end as the Frenchman kept getting involved in silly collisions after the news broke.
12. Carlos Sainz jr - probably the most anonymous driver of the year, solidly kept racking up at the small points but simultaneously got soundly beaten by the Hulk. Just one victory at the Formula 1.5 all year, no? Fortunately for him, next year at McLaren might return his stock back to the levels where they were.
13. Sebastian Vettel - screw up one season's title fight - and slack will be cut. Screw up next year again, and have a collision-full meltdown of proportions never seen in the history of the sport on top of your screw-up - and receive the consequences. Despite some fantastic early season performances, with his shenanigans towards the end Vettel truly managed to tarnish his reputation as a racing driver - and if he doesn't beat Leclerc next year, it might have finished his status as a "top driver". And for good.
14. Valtteri Bottas - only bitter unluck lost him a shot for the championship early on, but Bottas only has himself to blame for the dire performances from Hungary on. And unlike the case was in 2017, never seemed to recover: last year VB won at Abu Dhabi, this year he was the clown of the race instead. Next year, Valtteri must avoid getting into another slump, or he can wave his Mercedes seat a goodbye.
15. Lance Stroll - fairly difficult to assess due to Williams' anonymity, but generally faster in races than Sirotkin, and didn't really screw up a lot either.
16. Marcus Ericsson - started out strong and momentarily looked on course to ruin yet another upstart's career, but then came Baku. Instead Marcus ended up getting soundly beaten himself and having his own career ended. A few mistakes here and there, nothing really embarrassing but probably not Marcus' best season in a car which, as his team-mate showed, had potential for so much more.
17. Sergey Sirotkin - well...what did anybody expect? Alright in qualifying, yet anonymous in races. Difficult to assess whether it was the car or the drivers.
18. Brendon Hartley - nobody can really have expected much, and also suffered from grave unluck at times. But he kept having his own incidents and and got soundly out-impressed by Gasly. Look forward to seeing him at Le Mans again.
19. Stoffel Vandoorne - we expected the Waffle to raise up to the occasion against the mighty Alonso. He didn't.
20. Romain Grosjean - disastrous start of the season was slightly repaired by a slightly more solid end of the season, but not enough. Widely expected to be Haas's number one weapon in for the higher-scoring points, Romain was more of a weapon towards other drivers instead while K-Mag outsped him. Very fortunate to retain his ride for next season.

Teams
1. Mercedes - by no means a perfect season, had a few strategic blunders - but also showed their organizational superiority over Ferrari consistently that there is no other choice but to rank them #1.
2. Sauber - what a turnaround instated by Frédéric Vasseur. From seemingly total indifference, a bit of red colour and a high-punching Leclerc, Sauber raised its profile to everybody's second favourite in just the matter of a year.
3. Ferrari - built an admirably strong car, but their race-to-race operations were thoroughly lacking, especially in the strategy department.
4. Haas - widely predicted to be fighting against Williams and Toro Rosso at the back, from the expectations building a car capable to reach the 5th place on the constructors' standings is an admirable performance. Especially given that its drivers seemed to throw half the points away.
5. Red Bull - only seemed to build one car per race, but had a few strategic masterstrokes here and there that enabled its drivers to at least bring the fight. And say whatever about Honda, moving engines looks like to have been a smart gamble right now.
6. Renault - if "solid midfield mediocrity" is the image Renault wants from its F1 involvement, they're doing a perfect job. But if it's not, then...
7. Toro Rosso - maybe only 9th in the championship, but the plucky Italian squad made a partnership with Honda seem happy and drama free. When did we last see that? Aguri in 2007?
8. Racing Point Force India - one can only adore the high-midfield cars they somehow keep building, with what appears to be no budget at all. But they failed to keep their drivers under the leash yet again, hence the low grade.
9. McLaren - everything wasn't Honda's fault after all, was it?
10. Williams - no explanation needed. Such a dire season by the outfit that began the Hybrid era as the #1 challengers to Mercedes. Slam dunk ROTY.

Speaking of which, please, someone else start up the ROTY thread.

For the meantime, my ROTY Podium:
Williams
Romain Grosjean
Stoffel Vandoorne
when you're dead people start listening
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rachel1990
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Re: The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by rachel1990 »

Drivers
1- Lewis Hamilton- After a tricky start to the year Hamilton was peerless. Even when the team seemed to stuff up on Strategy or on Pace, Hamilton was there. 11 wins and 17 podiums overall says it all. Possibly his best season ever.
2- Charles Leclerc- After a questionable start to the season, Leclerc's season like Hamiltons came alive in Baku where he got a terrific Sixth place. Both in Qualifying and on the race day more often than not (especially in the second half of the season) he was in the top ten and FIVE seventh places in 6 races at the end of the season in a Sauber that was probably the 6th Fastest on the Grid was impressive. Deserves his Ferrari seat next year.
3-Kimi Räikkönen On the same token though I am sorry to see Kimi leave Ferrari because I think it was his best year in the car since 2007. His consistency in Qualifying, as well as the races, was great to see and while he was stuffed up a few times by Ferrari strategies he still came up looking good. His win in the USA was one of the best F1 stories in years and brought a few tears to some peoples eyes. Best Finn on the grid as well.
4- Nico Hülkenberg The best of the rest this year Nico has shown once again what a good talent he is. I cannot believe it has been nearly nine years since he made his debut (okay he missed out on 2011 because Williams had to have the Pastor in the car) beat his teammate by a country mile this year despite many people thinking Sainz may challenge him. (Well he did better than Palmer).Hopefully, Renault will pump money into the car for next season so he and Riccardo can propel them further on the grid.
5- Max Verstappen Yes he can be rash and immature but at the same time, you can't deny the talent there. Getting the Red bull into positions where after Qualifying (thanks to reliability) you wouldn't think they would go is remarkable. Should have had 3 race wins this year instead of 2 but at the same time, little mistake are still there. If the Honda power is reliable next year he may be a title contender at last.
6- Daniel Ricciardo While Max had little reliability during Qualifying at least he could carve up the field on race day. Ricciardo's luck would run out on race day. Very unlucky to be 80 points behind his teammate. However, could see Max becoming Red bull's golden boy and decided to take a chance at Renault rather than become the Mark Webber of the team. Hopefully, Renault will give him the car he deserves.
7- Pierre Gasly However Max shouldn't get too relaxed at Red Bull with Gasly in the team. Like Verstappen before him, Gasly put that Toro Rosso in places where it didn't belong. An amazing 4th place in Bahrain set the tone for the rest of the season and his promotion to the Red Bull team is richly deserved. Could be a great inter-team battle next season.
8- Kevin Magnussen It's amazing what a bit of time and patience can do to a racing driver. Haas have given K-mag time and this season he has rewarded them in droves. Okay, he hasn't made any new friends on the grid but its results that count and 9th place overall is a fantastic result for him.
9-Fernando Alonso his farewell season in f1 was quite frankly a sorry end to a terrific career that shows that he had the talent but those around him let him down. His consecutive point finishes at the start of the season (5 races in a row) showed that he still had the talent but it was becoming clear that f1 was moving on. Would have loved to see one last win or even one last podium but it turns out the closest he got was the first race in Australia. He completely thrashed his teammate though so he still has that special something. However, it was moving to see the f1 fans voting him as the driver of the day at Abu Dhabi. A fitting tribute to the most talented driver on the grid a mantle that will be passed onto Hamilton/Verstappen (haven't decided yet. NOT VETTEL).
10 Sergio Pérez While he had his moment in the sun in Baku with a great third place (the only podium for Formula B this year) Fighting with Ocon cost the team points. No longer considered a top talent for a top team Perez will deliver results. May get a culture shock with Stroll next year because he can't afford to feud with him in the team.
11- Esteban Ocon A tad unlucky to be losing his seat this year through no fault of his own but the fact is that Perez got the slightly better results and Ocon's father is not bankrolling the team. Okay, his mishap in Brazil was a big stain on the copybook this year but he has been steady and will be ready to pounce next yeat if Bottas brings his second half 2018 performances into 2018.
12- Carlos Sainz Jr. He did make a step up at Renault this year but it wasn't big enough. Okay he brought in points helping the team to a good 4th place in the constructors this year but the Hulk had the measure of him all year and once Riccardo was signed and Red Bull declined to pair him up with Verstappen again the writing was on the wall. McLaren may bring rewards but if Norris beats him next year Sainz's career may be on the wall.
13- Lance Stroll to get any points in that piece of junk was a huge achievement. Force India will be a proper test.
14- Sergey Sirotkin as above but on balance he probably is better for a testing role. Good on him for keeping it on the road though.
15- Sebastian Vettel- YOU had the fastest car. It is YOUR team. The team revolves around YOU. and YOU and YOU alone screw it up big time. After a strong start (2 wins on the bounce) the screw-ups began. Collisions accidents, complaining bad Qualifying Blah Blah Blah. 5 race wins with the best car on the grid? Not good enough. Vettel is not the Next Micheal Schumacher. Not even the next Ralf. I now believe it was the Red Bull car, not the Driver who won those 4 titles on the trot. Vettel needs to thrash Leclerc next season or much bigger questions may be coming his way. Such as his Ferrari future.
16- Valtteri Bottas- He had a very unlucky start to the season. he was unlucky not to win in Bahrain. Then after that, it all fell down on a cliff. barring Russia where he should have won he has been nowhere. The reason he had to move over in Russia was that he should have been in the title fight but unlike his teammate, he was nowhere. He can't seem to manage the tires at all and ended the season winless. Mercedes haven't had that from a driver in 5 years. Very lucky to keep his seat and Ocon will be breathing down his neck next year. Be very worried Valtteri.
17- Marcus Ericsson wasn't really expecting much and he delivered what I expected. Very much the number two driver at Sauber. He was quite good in Qualifying sometimes but he never really brought home the bacon. 9th place is okay I suppose but since Sauber has become the Ferrari number two team now he was never going to fit in. A remnant of the old days of Sauber before Ferrari finally made them the B team.
18- Brendon Hartley Another driver who never really delivered this year, Harley had a poor year where his teammate totally thrashed him apart from Brazil where he had his day in the sun. May keep his seat next year but its more due to the lack of options than any other reason.
19 Romain Grosjean talking of the old days, the crashtastic Grosjean returned this year spreading Misery and wasted millions around the paddock. Very Lucky not to get a race ban due to how many penalty points he got this year. (okay a few were carried over from last year but still....) cost Haas 4th place in the constructors this year. Needs a big improvement next year or may lose his seat.
20 Stoffel Vandoorne another big thing who wasn't at Mclaren. a wasted talent or overhyped? The results point to one thing. Out qualified by his teammate at every race this year. Only 1 point finish after Baku. Was found more often than not fighting with the snails aka Williams this year. With Norris being claimed as the next big thing and Sainz showing he does have fight left in him the writing was on the wall for Stoffel. Formula E beckons.

Teams
1- Sauber who expected the now Ferrari b team to become the fans favourite again!! Good results and hopefully next year with Kimi and Giovinazzi in the car they keep it up!
2- Mercedes good on them for winning the double again despite a couple of dodgy strategy calls. Bottas was a total let down though. Toto may have to make a harsh decision if this continues next season.
3[-b]Ferrari[/b] Should have won both titles this year but lost the Constructors due to dodgy calls with Kimi and lost the drivers thanks to some dodgy driving from Vettel. Let's hope next year Vettel Improves and Leclerc isn't overwhelmed.
4- Haas Should have got 4th but Grosjean let them down big time. Keep it up for next year
5- Renault they need to invest in the team. They will have one of the best driver pairings on the grid next season. They need the car to match those drivers talents.
6- Red Bull Once again reliability let them down, especially with Riccardo's car. Maybe Honda will bring it?
7- Force India driver squabbles dampened the probable final season with the team with this name. Still quite decent cars though.
8- Toro Rosso Made the Honda engines work which speaks millions for Mclaren. May have a tougher time next season though.
9- Mclaren- So what is the issue now. It's not the engine is it.
10- Williams Worst season ever. The car was junk. At least they have put Kubica in the car for next season though.

ROTY
Bronze- Romain Grosjean for returning to his 2012 form
Silver - Stoffel Vandoorne for becoming another Overhyped Mclaren Protege!

GOLD
Williams- For Delivering their worst car in history and being complete and utter rubbish this season.
Benetton of 1992. Never a reject
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Samster
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Re: The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by Samster »

Haven't decided on my own rankings yet but for the record here are Autosport's average ratings for each driver. I've made tiebreakers based on most 10s scored followed by most 9s etc. Everyone down to Grosjean in 15th received at least one 10.

1. Lewis Hamilton 8.76
2. Max Verstappen 8.00
3. Charles Leclerc 7.86
4. Sebastian Vettel 7.76
5. Fernando Alonso 7.71
6. Pierre Gasly 7.67
7. Esteban Ocon 7.62
8. Carlos Sainz Jr. 7.62
9. Nico Hulkenburg 7.52
10. Daniel Ricciardo 7.52
11. Valtteri Bottas 7.52
12. Sergio Perez 7.48
13. Kimi Raikkonen 7.38
14. Kevin Magnussen 7.33
15. Romain Grosjean 7.10
16. Marcus Ericsson 6.67
17. Lance Stroll 6.57
18. Sergei Sirotkin 6.48
19. Stoffel Vandoorne 6.43
20. Brendon Hartley 6.35
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UncreativeUsername37
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Re: The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

1. Lewis Hamilton
It's hard to fault Hamilton's performance this season. Actually, it isn't, he wasn't consistently beating Bottas in the first half. But starting from Hungary, daaamn. He won most of the races from then on, because he deserved to. How do you critique perfection?

2. Fernando Alonso
I guess he still drove like Alonso. Hard to tell when his teammate has had one career race against other drivers, though. If only Mercedes were willing to deal with him....

3. Nico Hülkenberg
Beating Sainz after his performance in 2017 is something to be proud of, and Hülkenberg fully deserves his LMP2 title. When I looked at the stats, it was much closer with Sainz than it felt like to me, but still.

4. Charles Leclerc
Ericsson did a respectable job against Wehrlein last year, something I think I thought less of at the time than I should have, and Leclerc smashed him. He did so many unbelievable things with the Sauber that they eventually became believable because they had happened too often. After those first three races, he never looked back. Getting out of Q2 in Brazil was the lap of the year.

5. Sebastian Vettel
As you know, Vettel was fast, but had too many big mistakes for someone who wants to be world champion. That's pretty much it.

6. Max Verstappen
Once he stopped crashing, he was great! It's like if Vettel got all his mistakes done at the start of the season.

7. Kevin Magnussen
In the first half of the season, he beat Grosjean by quite a lot, and after the summer break he was slightly worse. Overall had a very good season.

8. Daniel Ricciardo
He was the slower Red Bull driver this season and only ever beat Verstappen because he did something stupid. I still think he's better than most of the midfield, though.

9. Sergio Pérez
He drew about even with Ocon head-to-head, but he didn't crash in Baku, and that's worth a lot of points.

10. Esteban Ocon
Sometimes he beat Pérez, sometimes he didn't, and either way they were usually quite close. More of the same, then.

11. Pierre Gasly
He beat Hartley in most races and got the big results when he was nowhere. He had the epic pace inside him somewhere, and when he didn't deliver it, he still did a decent job more often than not. Reminds me of someone else before they went up against the established guy at Red Bull... not that I'm saying it's likely to go down that way, but how funny would it be to see Red Bull do the 2019 regulations the best only for Verstappen to not be champion?

12. Carlos Sainz
He did a decent job at Renault. I don't remember any high or low points for him. It's mostly been a disappointing season, but there are drivers who'd be happy to come fairly close to Hülkenberg.

13. Kimi Räikkönen
Räikkönen has a respectable head-to-head record against Vettel this year, but not because he was faster that often. Even when you try to rewrite history regarding his four mechanical failures to Vettel's zero, he still doesn't quite beat Vettel in the final standings. Tells you something, doesn't it?

14. Valtteri Bottas
Until Silverstone, Bottas' season was quite good, with him looking better than Hamilton about half the time. Then he never outperformed him again. Okay, Germany was weird, let's say after the summer break. But either way, seriously, what happened? It just spiralled after that. He came fifth in all of the last four races, enabling him to come fifth in the championship. The signs point to it being a confidence thing, so hopefully the off-season will let him reset... not that he's had a set of results that would inspire confidence.

15. Romain Grosjean
Once he remembered how to drive again, he was fine. But "fine" doesn't make up for how he did for so long.

16. Brendon Hartley
He didn't manage anything spectacular like Gasly did, and he was outperformed most of the time regardless. He certainly wasn't terrible, he did okay, but okay doesn't keep you at Toro Rosso.

17. Marcus Ericsson
As always with these situations, it's hard to say since he went against a rookie. He didn't beat Leclerc much at all, but in the last third of the season he was right behind him, which you have to assume is good when you're dealing with a 19-year-old GP2 champion. (I refuse to call 2017 F2, it wasn't a new car....)

18. Stoffel Vandoorne
At times he was close to Alonso, but usually not, and he never looked better. I feel bad that someone who was put up against Alonso in their first years in F1 doesn't have anyone's faith, but McLaren have their data and if they like Norris better, that's fair enough.

19. Lance Stroll
Where were the epic drives from nowhere? Not with Stroll. Leclerc and Gasly had that job this season. I know it's partially Williams' fault, but he wasn't doing much better median result-wise when they did have a decent car.

20. Sergey Sirotkin
He didn't manage to beat Stroll most of the time, and considering how his only other season went, that's not good. He was hardly dominated, but that's no achievement.


1. Mercedes
This year was a blatant rehash of 2017. The writers shouldn't have been paid for this.

2. Haas
They gave Renault a good fight for fourth. Best low-budget team by a long way.

3. Ferrari
You can't have a slump like they had in a close year like this, but they were certainly far from being a bad team. By the way, is it really fair to put them behind Haas? I guess so?

4. Force India
They were solidly midfield. They had their good races and their bad ones. Yep.

5. Red Bull
They had their moments, but it was basically more of the same.

6. Sauber
Not last! Not only not last, but above Toro Rosso! It's between them and Haas for infinite improbability team.

7. Renault
They took a solid, boring fourth like everyone expected. Actually, Haas kept them honest. And looking forward, the gap to the top three is wider if anything. There's a long way to go.

8. Toro Rosso
Ninth is pretty pathetic for them. Maybe if you account for Leclerc, they were better than Sauber, but good on Sauber for getting Leclerc, then. And Ericsson did all right in the car anyway... and now I've spent the whole review talking about another team because they were so anonymous most of the time.

9. McLaren
No excuse now. They were just bad. They didn't make the big three into the big four, and they didn't even trouble Renault-Renault. This doesn't feel like just another midfield year for them, this hurts.

10. Williams
lol

11. Force India
The constant hazy threat of collapse emerged from the haze and grabbed them. But seriously, what kind of team gets disqualified from the championship in the 2010s? Pathetic.
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Rob Dylan
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Re: The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by Rob Dylan »

1. Lewis Hamilton: perfect season. His strongest in my opinion, at least since joining Mercedes. He's been very consistent, though lucky, and there's basically nothing I can criticise, so yeah, number one.
2. Charles Leclerc: I was looking forward to his season, and was not disappointed. He had a fantastic season, and it seems Ferrari have seen it too. I wish him the best of luck next year; he really seems to be the real deal.
3. Max Verstappen: A rocky and shaky start, with his aggressive personality often coming to the surface, but on-track he could arguably have been the strongest runner out there.
4. Sebastian Vettel: Rather the opposite of Verstappen, Vettel went from the most solid front-runner to a man who seemed unable to put a racing day together, never mind a weekend. Perhaps looking at this at the end of the season, I've rated him too highly (and I do say this in the podcast), but yeah he was good for much of the season, but if I had one word to describe it, it would be "imperfect".
5. Kimi Räikkönen: The most unexpectedly strong of the front-runners this year was Kimi. He actually didn't suck, and had probably his strongest season since his two seasons at Lotus. By the end of the season he was not just on par with his teammate, but actually beating him on merit. Not bad for a 39-year-old has-been.
6. Kevin Magnussen: Of all the drivers competing for the Formula 1.5 title, I think Magnussen deserved it the most. The Haas had improved, though it was far from perfect, consistent or even reliable. Of those competing drivers, he gave the most consistent season in my eyes, really pushing that Haas into solid positions and giving regular consistent weekends.
7. Esteban Ocon
= Sergio Pérez: I rate the Force India drivers equally. They are very well-matched teammates, though with Sergio's experience and how highly I rate him as a driver, I would say Ocon can be rated as having had the better season. Pérez had higher highs, and lower lows. Ocon was more consistent. But they're a great driving pair I'm sad to see aren't continuing. Honestly, this year they've been one of the strongest line-ups.
9. Daniel Ricciardo: A season that never really came together for Daniel, though it was far from a bad one. His two wins were probably the best and most enjoyable ones of the season, though he never finished on the podium again otherwise in 2018. It was clear something wasn't gelling, either with the car or the team or whatever. Verstappen took over and now Daniel's moving on, and it's probably the best for the Aussie. Let's hope the decision was the right one.
10. Fernando Alonso: The occasional great performance, this time at the start of the season, is what we usually expect from Fernando, and he delivered that reliable consistency. But he's been fed up for years now, and his motivation has waned enough for him to get bored of F1 and yearn for something more. For a short time he was best of the rest, but by summer he was merely counting the races until he could do something he enjoys.
11. Pierre Gasly: A surprisingly unspectacular season from the Frenchman. He had a fantastic Bahrain race, but otherwise great races were very occasional. Not a bad season at all, but with the gap so big to the front-runners, he gave very few notable performances. He's off to Red Bull, and I worry that he's not going to please the powers-that-be there if he's been promoted too early.
12. Nico Hülkenberg: Maybe I'm harsh. He won Formula 1.5 after all. But that Renault really should have been finishing more consistently under his power. I saw far more heroics from the likes of Magnussen or Pérez than I saw from Nico, and I feel his 7th place was more from his car than it was from his individual performances. Therefore I'm maybe harsh. Not a bad season, but definitely without the highs of his peers in the midfield.
13. Valtteri Bottas: Someone who really needed to step up his game and get on it was Valtteri. He finished 5th by championship's end, and honestly he deserved that low of a standing. Though his start was about on-par with his 2017 pace, after Baku he was never really there. A pole or two, maybe, but after team orders he really was just defeated and waiting for 2019. As Nuppiz said in the podcast, he shouldn't have been in the position where team orders were even being called. He's lucky to be in a championship-capable car in 2019, because of all the drivers, he deserved most to be relegated from the top teams after 2018.
14. Marcus Ericsson: A "strong" season, at least by Marcus' standards. The Sauber has improved a bit, and it was nice to see that it wasn't just Charles bringing home their points. A semi-reliable job, and for a pay-driver like Ericsson, that's a great result.
15. Lance Stroll
= Sergey Sirotkin: like with Force India, these drivers were so equal it's difficult to rate them. The Williams was crap, and Sirotkin certainly didn't deserve to have probably his only F1 season stuck in such a chassis. But that's lady luck I suppose. Lance had more points and more notable occasions, but Sirotkin wasn't exactly the worst.
17. Carlos Sainz Jr.: Probably the most anonymous driver all year. He drove in the 4th-fastest car on the grid, and is (was) one of the highest rated drivers on said grid. I barely saw him all year, and he was lucky to grab 10th in the championship at the death, because it really felt like his Renault was the one bringing him those places. He'll have to do more at McLaren next year to be a real team leader, because that's what he was supposed to be at Renault!
18. Romain Grosjean: Competing for Reject of the Year for the first third of the season, and was easily the worst driver for much of the first half. He brought it back and scored some good points and was then on the pace of Magnussen. One of his worst seasons, but he at least deserves a little credit for sorting himself out eventually.
19. Brendon Hartley: The only driver more anonymous than Sainz Jr. He'll be forgotten very soon, as his only job was as a stop-gap driver. He didn't do any more than was required of him. And those weren't high expectations.
20. Stoffel Vandoorne: From the promising wunderkind of 2014 and 2015, by the end of 2018 people have really questioned his talent and abilities. Which is a shame, because he comes across as a nice guy, and probably just lost his motivation in a bad McLaren. But he was supposed to step up this year and compete, and he didn't do that at all. Outqualified in every race by Alonso, he scored barely any points and qualified dead last on way too many races. He gets some sympathy, but becoming the 2018 version of Daniil Kvyat was the last thing he was expected to do. He leaves F1 a reject, and in my opinion Reject of the Year.


1. Mercedes: Mercedes' most imperfect year of a championship win gives them... 9 out of 10 instead of a solid 10. Even with the early-season drama, it's hard not to rate them as by far the best team yet again. They sailed into another championship by the end.
2. Haas: What an improbable outcome! Haas, fifth in the championship? What, really? What an improvement, and a great thing for Formula 1. Hopefully this will push further investment from new teams, this was great news. Hopefully next year they'll nab a podium.
3. Force India / Racing Point Force India: out of respect for their consistency and pace over the season, I give them third. Maybe too high a rating, but they had run out of cash and needed to be brought back from the dead, and they maintained their pace throughout the season to basically finish 5th on combined points. Good to see their pace remain, and for them to triumph through such adversity. Good job Force India!
4. Ferrari: A good chassis, perhaps ruined by poor driver performance or bad strategy from time to time. It was a decent car and I can't put too much fault on it. Maybe the best car they've made since 2008. But it didn't get them close to a title by the end, though, did it.
5. Sauber: Improved car, good drivers, good season. Good job! Not much more to say.
6. Red Bull: Another season, another wait for Red Bull to get their act together and compete at the front consistently. Once again they were picking away at the mistakes of Ferrari and Mercedes, but otherwise Verstappen's strong driving in the second half was what saved them. They really need to sort out whatever core issue it is that's keeping them behind their rivals.
7. Renault: Quite a harsh rating, but they kind of stumbled into 4th place out of default rather than a brilliant chassis or drivers. It seemed like the car was capable of more, and they really didn't deliver the kind of outstanding pace that screams "best of the rest". I'd be more inclined to give that award to Haas.
8. Toro Rosso: bad car, couldn't really compete with its rivals and was only ever going to pick up the occasional point. Much like 2010-13 kind of pace.
9. McLaren
= Williams: Oh my God. You two, I just don't know what to say. Go to your rooms.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
Felipe Nasr - the least forgettable F1 driver!
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good_Ralf
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Re: The 2018 Driver and Team Reviews

Post by good_Ralf »

Driver Rankings/Ratings (if anyone still remembers this thread :pantano: )

20. Stoffel Vandoorne 4-4.5
19. Brendon Hartley 5-5.5
18. Lance Stroll 5.5-6
17. Sergey Sirotkin 6
16. Romain Grosjean 6-6.5
15. Marcus Ericsson
14. Carlos Sainz 6.5-7
13. Sergio Pérez 7-7.5
12. Valtteri Bottas
11. Sebastian Vettel
10. Pierre Gasly
9. Esteban Ocon 7.5
8. Kevin Magnussen
7. Daniel Ricciardo 7.5-8
6. Fernando Alonso
5. Nico Hülkenberg
4. Kimi Räikkönen 8
3. Max Verstappen
2. Charles Leclerc 9
1. Lewis Hamilton
Check out the position of the sun on 2 August at 20:08 in my garden

Allard Kalff in 1994 wrote:OH!! Schumacher in the wall! Right in front of us, Michael Schumacher is in the wall! He's hit the pitwall, he c... Ah, it's Jos Verstappen.
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