Best driver, biggest surprise, worst flop: our F1 2017 review

We asked, and Ferrari answered: for the first time since 2012 Formula 1 had a multi-team title fight.

While the ultimate conclusion of the Lewis Hamilton/Sebastian Vettel championship battle lacked a little oomph thanks to Ferrari's Asian implosion, this was still a much improved F1 season.

We asked our team in the paddock to review the year's highlights, low points and much more.

The panel: Ben Anderson (Grand Prix Editor), Gary Anderson (Special Contributor), Lawrence Barretto (F1 Correspondent), Stuart Codling (Executive Editor), Adam Cooper (Special Contributor), Dieter Rencken (Special Contributor), Edd Straw (Digital Content Manager)

Who was your driver of the season?

Lawrence Barretto @LawroBarretto
I agree with F1's team principals, Lewis Hamilton was the driver of the year. Faced with a serious threat from Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton kept a cool head, was error-free and delivered consistently throughout the year. His performance after the summer break, when he won five out of the six races, was ruthless and further evidence that he is one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.

Ben Anderson @BenAndersonAuto
Narrowly Hamilton. Max Verstappen was absolutely stunning again this year, but overly-aggressive at times and he didn't have to face the pressure of a title fight. Hamilton was put under enormous threat by Vettel's Ferrari and the capricious nature of the Mercedes early in the season, but showed his true champion qualities by finding a way to win regardless. This was Mercedes' toughest season since the V6 engine rules were introduced, yet Hamilton made the difference against Ferrari and Vettel, so he's my driver of the season.

Edd Straw @EddStrawF1
Not only did Hamilton win the world championship and nine grands prix, but his already extraordinary driving reached a higher level than ever before. This was Hamilton's most complete season in F1. He seemed to be at one with himself and the car - particularly from the British Grand Prix onwards. It seems a cop-out to pick the champion, but he was too good to ignore in 2017.

Gary Anderson @Autosport
For me this has to go to Verstappen. He had lots of reliability problems through the season, but when the car was running he was able to extract the maximum from it both in qualifying and the race. There was a spell in the latter half of the season when he was the top points scorer, and if Red Bull and Renault can give him a car and engine that is in the ballpark performance and reliability-wise then he can win the 2018 drivers' title.

Stuart Codling @CoddersF1
In stark contrast to the dimwitted narrative spun by those not paying attention, I think Verstappen has been spectacularly good this year. For much of the season that excellence was masked by sub-par equipment, as Red Bull made heavy weather of sorting its correlation problems. He's made a handful of mistakes (Turn 1 at Barcelona being arguably the biggest), but the Singapore shunt, in which he was blameless collateral, wasn't one of them.

Dieter Rencken @RacingLines
Esteban Ocon for the robust manner in which he took the fight in his first full season to Sergio Perez, arguably driving at the peak of his career, in identical cars. Not only did the youngster qualify on average within 0.5 of a grid slot of Perez - in part on circuits Ocon had not competed on before - but he had a finishing rate of 95%, scoring points in 18 of 20 GPs. His sole DNF was caused by outside influences; without that incident Ocon could conceivably have finished a place ahead - rather than one behind - his highly rated team-mate.

Adam Cooper @AdamCooperF1
There are several strong candidates behind him in the table, but it would be unfair not to choose Hamilton. He barely put a foot wrong all season, showed a new maturity at times, and arguably it was Vettel who struggled to deal with the intense pressure of a title battle. Hamilton thoroughly deserved his fourth world championship.

Which team was your star of the year?

DR: Force India for consolidating its fourth place in the constructors' championship - despite having the lowest annual budget in the paddock - through a combination of feisty drivers, astute management, technical nous and racer attitude. Painting Formula 1 cars, of all categories, pink provides proof of Force India's courage.

ES: Force India again overachieved by taking fourth in the constructors' championship - showing what a well-run, efficient, tight team can do. It's a justified reward for having the courage to back quality drivers, even if the team perhaps should have got its duo under control earlier as the Perez/Ocon clashes did cost some real points - especially in Baku. Other than that, a great feat of getting the most out of what you have with 16 double-points finishes.

GA: Value for money it must be Force India. In general, it was able to qualify both cars consistently in the top 10, so this again confirmed that it was not just luck - Force India was genuinely at the races.

LB: Every time Force India seems to hit its glass ceiling, it finds a way to smash through it. Fourth in the constructors' championship for the second season in a row with the smallest budget in F1 is a phenomenal achievement. Boss Vijay Mallya has put together a brilliant team in deputy team boss Bob Fernley, chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer, technical director Andrew Green, chief engineer Tom McCullough and sporting director Andy Stevenson - and it's paying dividends. Technically and operationally, it's never been stronger.

AC: Of course it was another superb year for Mercedes, which this time had to respond to a tough external challenge. But taking resources and so on into account Force India not only repeating its 2016 fourth place but doing so even more decisively wins it my nomination. Ocon proved to be an inspired choice, and while his battle with his team-mate became a little messy at times, the team just managed to keep the situation under control.

SC: Force India. Pound for pound, Formula 1's most effective outfit technically, strategically and operationally (barring a few misfires in controlling its squabbling drivers). It's expanding and recruiting, though, so we might not be able to roll out the bang-for-buck argument for long.

BA: Force India was impressive again, as was the nascent Renault works team, but I have to award this accolade to Ferrari. It has flattered to deceive in the past, but this season the Prancing Horse came out of the blocks at a full gallop, maintained that pace for most of the year, and finally put up a proper fight against Mercedes for the world championship. F1 has been crying out for such a battle in recent seasons, so Ferrari deserves enormous credit for raising its game so well, even though it fell short in the end.

What was the best overtake of the campaign?

LB: Daniel Ricciardo's three-in-one pass in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Australian picked up a tow on the main straight and nipped down the inside of Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll to take third into Turn 1. A gutsy piece of opportunistic driving that underpinned his charge to victory.

AC: We had some good passes for the lead this year but I'll be very boring and go for Ricciardo's move on both Williams drivers and Hulkenberg in Baku. Ricciardo has proved a decisive and deft overtaker in recent years but that was a particularly spectacular move on a day when he ended up a winner.

SC: Hulkenberg and Ocon on Perez at Spa. Yes, Ricciardo's triple overtake in Baku was a consummate demonstration of bravery and delicacy on the brakes, but Hulkenberg vs Ocon vs Perez was a pure watch-though-your-fingers moment. Hulkenberg with two wheels on the grass on the plunge towards Eau Rouge, Ocon with two wheels in the wall and the other two rubbing against his own recalcitrant team-mate. Don't do this at home, kids.

GA: The Kimi Raikkonen/Ricciardo/Valtteri Bottas overtaking move at Spa is all about commitment, with Ricciardo overtaking Bottas on the left-hand side Raikkonen takes his opportunity to pass both on the left. Three cars side by side at around 200mph is bravery at the highest level and the old man of Formula 1 showed he still had the commitment to just stick it in there and see what happens.

ES: Fernando Alonso's pass on Carlos Sainz Jr in Turns 1-3 at the Hungaroring stands out because not only was it a tenacious bit of driving after running wide when making the initial first-corner pass, but for several other reasons. Firstly, Alonso was in an underpowered McLaren. Secondly, he and Sainz were on identical strategies. Thirdly, it was the decisive moment in the battle for a valuable sixth place. Fourthly, it came at a track where passing is very difficult.

DR: Sainz on Perez into the Turn 19 complex at Austin: in a car with a power deficit versus the Mercedes-powered Force India, in his first race for Renault, Sainz sat it out against Perez by placing his car perfectly to exit the twiddly bits ahead. Confidence, courage, poise and positioning all combined.

BA: There were a couple of great efforts from Ricciardo, particularly in Baku (on both Williams drivers and Hulkenberg at once) and at Monza (against Raikkonen), and Sainz's move around the outside of Perez at Austin deserves praise for its audacity, but my winner is Alonso, for his round-the-outside pass of Sainz for sixth in Hungary. Alonso outbraked himself trying a move at Turn 1, but immediately regrouped and pulled off a crucial pass at the next turn. Even in a slow car, Alonso remains a formidable fighter.

What was your highlight of the season?

ES: While it's not ended with the fairytale race return, to see Robert Kubica get back into a grand prix car and lap at a very respectable pace was truly heartwarming. It wasn't quite good enough but considering the extent of his injuries, the many surgeries, the sheer will and determination he has had to show and doubtless the mental strain of this whole situation, his albeit stalled comeback was hugely impressive. While it's probably a postscript to his proper F1 career, its testament to his skill and resolve that he got so far.

GA: Seeing in Australia that Ferrari was going to be able to take the championship battle to Mercedes. We have all had too much of this one team dominating and to see a potential championship battle brewing up was refreshing.

LB: Raikkonen claiming his first pole position since 2008 in Monaco. The Finn hasn't covered himself in glory in his second stint in F1, but his lap around the streets of Monte Carlo proved he still has the pace on his day and was a reward for his loyal legion of fans across the globe.

AC: The first Azerbaijan GP (it was the European in 2016!) was probably the most entertaining race of the year, and Vettel's clumsy attempt to make his point to Hamilton behind the safety car gave us plenty to talk about in the days that followed. It's an unusual track that is perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but at least we had a race, endless action, and some overtaking. Obviously Hamilton's headrest issue gave us an unexpected winner in Ricciardo, but that was just part of the story on an entertaining afternoon.

BA: The Azerbaijan GP. Everyone loves a crazy street race and this one had a bit of everything - title fight controversy, multiple collisions, superb overtaking, and a surprise winner.

DR: That F1 actually produced the pace improvement it promised after revamping its aero and tyre regulations. All too often in the past regulatory changes have not delivered on their objectives, but this time no excuses were necessary as F1 did the business.

SC: Using my GCSE Spanish in Mexico to politely dissuade our Friday-night taxi driver from taking me, Edd Straw and Lawrence Barretto to 'a bar he knows'.

What was something to forget from the 2017 season?

GA: When Vettel, Verstappen and Raikkonen crashed at the first corner in Singapore and Hamilton was able to slip past the melee and go on to win the race, I sort of knew that the championship battle was over. Once Hamilton and Mercedes got a strong hold on the drivers' championship, it was going to be doubly difficult to get it back off them. Mercedes is a team that knows how to win and when Ferrari started to trip up over itself the writing was on the wall.

LB: Vettel's moment of madness in Baku. Ahead of a safety car restart, Vettel felt Hamilton had brake-tested him and subsequently pulled alongside the Mercedes before swerving right and making contact. Vettel later apologised for what he described as an overreaction but the damage to his reputation was done.

DR: Bernie Ecclestone wandering about paddocks aimlessly, seemingly looking for yet another reason to diss F1's new owners, who had taken the necessary step of booting him 'upstairs' as chairman emeritus. He seemed to have got the message by the Austrian GP in July, after which he was not seen again for 10 races.

SC: People complaining about lack of overtaking, having jumped feet-first into a new rules package that was inevitably going to make it difficult for cars to follow each other closely.

ES: The failure of Honda to deliver on the expectations. The McLaren-Honda underachievement was a good story for a while, but it just became repetitive this year and the understandably protracted process of the pair settling on their divorce became deeply tedious. F1 needs as many competitive engine manufacturers as possible and Honda's failure is not the fault of the rules, it's the fault of Honda (and McLaren has to shoulder a little of the blame too). You'd hope Honda will get better next year. But not expect it to...

AC: We've grown accustomed to engine grid penalties over the past few seasons, and in 2017 they reached farcical proportions. Nobody wanted to see Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne handicapped so often, but it really became frustrating when the Red Bull drivers suffered in the latter part of the season, just at the time that the RB13 was starting to contend for race wins. It can only be worse next year, when the limit is three for some power unit elements, and as low as two for others. A minor change to the way penalised grid positions are determined won't make any difference.

BA: Pirelli's new hard tyre. So hard it was only useful for pictures, so said Perez. Even Pirelli didn't bother with it again after the Spanish GP.

What was the biggest surprise of 2017?

AC: Alonso's Indianapolis 500 programme. His return to McLaren was already a good reminder that anything can happen in this sport, and that we should never dismiss unlikely driver market theories. But no one could have predicted McLaren's support of his Indy ambitions, even in the context of what was in effect another wasted F1 season for Alonso.

DR: Sainz-to-Renault, Brendon Hartley/Pierre Gasly-to-Toro Rosso, Honda-to-Toro-Rosso, McLaren-to-Renault and all the complications such convoluted exercises entailed: in total 10 different components (including Porsche with its LMP1 exit) needed to perfectly align for the deals to go ahead, and all parties managed to get there in the end in (some) secrecy against almost insurmountable odds. Formula 1 at its problem-solving best across three teams and two engine suppliers, plus a driver to criss-cross the globe for eight weeks flat...

BA: Hartley getting called up to race for Toro Rosso. It was heartening to see a driver previously spurned by Red Bull getting another shot, having developed and proved himself elsewhere in the interim.

LB: That Red Bull failed to contend for the world championship. It was among the favourites as it was expected major changes to the aerodynamic regulations would play to Red Bull's strengths. But problems with its correlation tools ended its challenge before it even started. And its pace at the end of the season - when Verstappen won two races - showed just what might have been.

GA: That the McLaren-Honda combination had taken a step backwards for 2017. With all the tools that the engine manufacturers and teams have nowadays, surely they both should have known they were in trouble long before the year started?

SC: The speed with which Bottas accepted the role of compliant number two driver.

ES: Ferrari's revival was something that wasn't expected given the way things had gone in 2016. Internally, there seemed to be a return to politics tearing the team apart and a lack of focus that risked leaving Ferrari drifting for another season. But that wasn't the case, the team got itself together and produced a good car that it then developed well.

Who or what was your biggest disappointment of the year?

LB: It's between Honda and Renault. Both had high hopes of making big gains in 2017 and both failed to to deliver in terms of performance and reliability. Honda probably edges it.

DR: Honda - just how long does a company that prides itself on being the world's best (and largest) engine company actually need to sort out a power unit that the rest of the grid sussed out four years ago? Sure, the technology is complex, but no more complex than it is for Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Simply put: there are NO excuses.

AC: It has to be McLaren-Honda. After showing signs of upward progress in 2016 everyone expected to see more, especially after the upbeat launch of the new MCL32. But reliability was utterly abysmal and performance lacklustre. While Alonso in particular put the car into strong positions from time to time, he did that despite Honda rather than because of it. There was no excuse for such a poor effort in the third year of a programme.

ES: That Vettel and Ferrari couldn't sustain their world championship push, with both driver brain fades and reliability problems playing their part. Until a few seconds into the Singapore GP, this was shaping up to be a title fight for the ages, and it doesn't do the quality of the battle justice that this will look to those glancing at the record books like merely an extension of the dominance of Mercedes.

SC: I don't mind the new F1 logo, but it's symptomatic of a wider malaise: the determination of the championship's new owner to systematically (or perhaps not even that) undo everything FOM ever did or achieved while Bernie Ecclestone was at the helm. Declaring all Bernie's works axiomatically ungood is blinkered and positively Orwellian.

BA: That the title fight didn't go all the way to the final race, after such a promising start.

GA: The gap between the frontrunners and the midfield. In reality it was a two-class race, the works teams and the non-works teams. As a viewer, I don't want cars passing each other right left and centre on every lap, but I want there to be close racing with the odd overtake. To get that, there needs to be more cars competitively racing at the front of the field. Having two cars or at most three means that there is just not the excitement that live TV requires.

If there was one thing you could change from 2017, what would it be?

ES: It would have been great to see Massa have a shot at victory in Baku had his right-rear damper stood up. He might well still have been passed by Ricciardo, but it's possible he could have stayed ahead to the flag. At times, I've been critical of Massa (although at other times hugely impressed with his performances - particularly in 2008), but he's a driver nobody begrudges success and a valedictory victory for him would have been a wonderful story.

AC: The first corner in Singapore. We had a wet track, an interesting grid, and to lose Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen in the opening seconds was a total disaster for the race. After years of domination the prospect of Hamilton starting fifth was an intriguing one - and yet after a few corners he was leading once again. That race was also definitely a turning point in terms of Vettel's title aspirations, and any excitement over the championship battle soon began to fade.

LB: Ferrari's unreliability during the Asian leg as it robbed us of a drivers' title battle between Hamilton and Vettel that was headed for a decider in Abu Dhabi.

BA: To have McLaren and Red Bull in the thick of the title battle. Fingers crossed for 2018.

DR: Nico Rosberg's absence. F1 needs to fete its reigning champion, and his presence would not only have spiced up the fight at the sharp end, but also added gravitas to Mercedes and F1. An intelligent racer who was missed, and it showed in some of the processions.

GA: Consistency from the FIA regarding track limits and consistency of penalties from the stewards for driver indiscretions. As a viewer, you need to know what you are watching is the real thing. When you see a driver running wide at one corner without any penalty and then another driver getting a penalty for what looks like the same thing it is just confusing. I am not saying that running wide at every corner is necessarily an advantage, but what I am saying is that to the viewer it looks the same. Either allow it to happen or outlaw it completely.

SC: I'd have anything Sean Bratches said translated by representatives of the Plain English Campaign.