Best driver, biggest surprise, star team: Our F1 2018 review

One of the biggest challenges Formula 1 faces is creating a battle at the front of the field in which any team can take victory if the stars align.

But while it still appears as if that scenario is a long way off, Ferrari was a considerable threat to Mercedes in 2018, with Red Bull making a late-season challenge too. There were talking points up and down the grid and major surprises in the driver market.

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

The panel: Edd Straw (Grand Prix Editor), Scott Mitchell (Autosport F1 Reporter), Adam Cooper (Special Contributor), Jonathan Noble (Motorsport.com F1 Editor), Ben Anderson (F1 Racing Editor), Gary Anderson (Technical Consultant)

Who was your driver of the season?

Ben Anderson @benandersonauto

Lewis Hamilton. An obvious choice, I know, but who else could it be? There were a few 'bogey' events early on (Bahrain, China, Azerbaijan, Canada), but even so he racked up decent points and won one of them. The rest of the time he was supreme. Formidable on his bad days, unbeatable on his best ones, Hamilton has evolved to the point where he has very few (if any) obvious weaknesses. He is living in a post-Nico Rosberg nirvana, and making the absolute most of it.

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc did great things in 2018 but it would be churlish not to put Hamilton on top. It was an awesome season for him, and he was virtually flawless, despite being under huge pressure from Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari for much of the year. The fact that he remained fully on it even after clinching the title was mighty impressive.

Scott Mitchell @ScottAutosport

Hamilton. A fifth title earned after single-handedly leading Mercedes' charge. Defeated Vettel in wheel-to-wheel combat many times, including in high-pressure situations. His best season to date.

Jonathan Noble @NobleF1

Hamilton. In a year where driver mistakes were pretty common, Hamilton was the exception as he marched to his fifth world championship. Yes, there were some off days (such as China), but once we got to the business end of the season he was exceptional. It's safe to say he is at the peak of his F1 brilliance right now.

Gary Anderson

I would like to say Leclerc, but it has to be Hamilton. Especially over the second half of the season, when he really needed it, he just seemed to find another gear.

Edd Straw @eddstrawF1

Hamilton. A driver at his peak, completely confident in what he needs from himself and the team, relentlessly consistent and still capable of turning in a stunning qualifying lap or making a critical overtaking move. His Sunday performance at Monza, passing both Ferrari drivers, turned the tables and was arguably the best race drive of the year. A class act, on and off track.

Which team was your star of the year?

AC: Force India's survival was great news for F1, for the team could easily have gone the way of Prost and Arrows and other long lasting names that eventually hit the buffers. It took the arrival of Lawrence Stroll's millions and some deft footwork by Otmar Szafnauer, the FIA and the F1 management, but they pulled it off. Had things not fallen as neatly into place as they did then we might have lost two cars from the grid, and the associated jobs.

SM: Mercedes. Like Hamilton did with Vettel, Mercedes defeated Ferrari in a straight fight. Fewer mistakes were made and better developments were engaged at crunch moments. There's a reason Mercedes now has five straight title doubles, and Ferrari's trophy-less streak continues.

JN: It would be obvious to say Mercedes was the star team because of the way that it pulled it all together in the end. But I think one team that needs some credit is Haas, for having emerged as such a competitive force so early in its F1 life. Yes it takes a lot of customer parts, but Gunther Steiner has helped shape a lean, mean fighting machine that has proved to be a great disrupting force in the midfield.

GA: It could be Sauber but it has to be Mercedes. It withstood the pressure that Ferrari put on and everyone in the team kept their heads down in all areas, coming out on top and emerging as a better team because of it.

BA: Renault more than doubled its 2017 points tally; Haas came close to doing the same. But the star team of 2018, for me, was Sauber. Since taking over midway through last season, Fred Vasseur has galvanised that operation after a period of decline in the V6 era. Forging closer ties with Ferrari has proved a masterstroke, and Sauber scored almost 10 times as many points in 2018 as it managed through the whole of the previous season.

ES: Force India. It started the season with a 'parts bin special', struggled to get its car working in the early races, was unable to manufacture many of the upgrades it designed and developed because of financial troubles and went into administration before the August break. Yet somehow, most of the staff stayed on, the team was saved, it was the only team outside the top three to get a podium and throughout the troubles it still scored enough points to be fifth in the constructors' championship if it hadn't lost its points from the first half of the season. Most teams would have fallen apart.

What was the best overtake of the campaign?

JN: Daniel Ricciardo's move on Valtteri Bottas in China is the most memorable overtake of the season, but the best has to be the move Verstappen did on Kimi Raikkonen at Silverstone. Fighting for position, Verstappen had lost out on the run down to Brooklands. But his never give up attitude prompted him to go around the outside of his Ferrari rival at Luffield. Sensational stuff.

GA: Ricciardo on Bottas in China. Yes, he had a tyre advantage and probably would have passed him somewhere else, but like always he saw his chance and seemed to surprise the leader.

BA: Hamilton's round-the-outside pass of Vettel at Monza's second chicane on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix was more significant, certainly, but Raikkonen's repass of Hamilton at the same spot after briefly losing the lead on the restart was better - because it was completely clean and didn't rely on his opponent losing traction out of the previous corner. A reminder that Raikkonen in the right mood can still be a formidable racing driver on his day.

SM: Vettel on Hamilton in Austria. The title momentum was swinging between Vettel/Hamilton and so much was at stake. With Hamilton on the ropes as his race fell apart, Vettel drafted him out of Turn 1, squeezed by on the grass and then did a cheeky, aggressive bit of holding Hamilton out wide on the entry to Turn 3 to stop him turning in. Brilliant, and overlooked because Mercedes imploded shortly after.

AC: There were many spectacular moves in 2018, but Hamilton's dogged pass on Vettel at Sochi gets my vote, mainly because we saw the two four-time world champions going at it head to head, and with the title still very much up for grabs at the stage. It was a pretty brutal defence from the Ferrari driver, but somehow Lewis was always going to get through.

ES: Kevin Magnussen on Leclerc at Suzuka. This pass wasn't shown on the live feed, but Magnussen's move around the outside of Leclerc into 130R echoed Fernando Alonso's famous pass on Michael Schumacher here in 2005. It was overshadowed by the fact they collided a few moments later after Magnussen made a desperately late move to cover Leclerc's attack, but was an impressive pass. Check out F1's best of onboards from the race to see it.

What was your highlight of the season?

ES: Raikkonen's win. Raikkonen's failure to get the best out of the Ferrari over a sustained period has been a source of huge frustration, but he deserved a farewell victory and in Austin he drove a superb race and, unlike so many other occasions in recent years, didn't find a way to make an error or lose pace at a critical moment. It was good to see him win and good for F1.

SM: The Italian GP. This race had it all, and didn't need to be influenced by safety cars or weather to achieve it. The title rivals clashed on the opening lap, then we had a proper old-fashion 'hunt down the leader and pass them for the win' effort from Hamilton. It had a major impact on the title battle, too.

BA: Watching Verstappen and Ricciardo duke it out for fourth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Verstappen appeared to have nothing else in mind except keeping that sister car behind; Ricciardo had momentum with him after that brilliant, opportunist's win in China - and he got the job done until the pitstops undid his work. The subsequent collision - and the fury it ignited in Christian Horner - was almost inevitable as these two roosters fought to claim ownership of Red Bull's hen house.

JN: Italian Grand Prix race day. This was the afternoon that really turned the world championship on the psychological front. Ferrari had everything in its hands: the fastest car and a front row lock out. But it blew it with a lack of team orders to help Vettel on a day that its title contender also made a mistake. It really summarised Maranellos's season: all the potential to be champion but some bad management decisions and errors in the cockpit gave Hamilton just the sniff he needed to come out on top.

GA: Verstappen's drive from 18th on the grid to second at Austin, holding off Hamilton in the closing stages. That shows a driver who never gives up and can attack when he needs to and defend at other times.

AC: We did not have many truly dull Sundays in 2018. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was full of drama once again, and Raikkonen winning the US GP was a great result, but the German GP gets my vote. It was good to be back at one of F1's traditional homes, and with a decent crowd as well. The race was packed with action, with the rain livening things up, Vettel crashing, and Hamilton ultimately winning from 14th on the grid.

What was something to forget from the 2018 season?

GA: That the powers think that increasing the length of the DRS sections makes for good racing. This is all just false and should be eliminated so we see proper overtaking in Formula 1 again.

SM: Williams's slump. With the history and resources available at Grove, not to mention the personnel, Williams should not be propping up the foot of the table. It says a lot that serious and sweeping changes have been made.

JN: The way the driver market played out in leaving Esteban Ocon without an F1 drive. The swift Frenchman continued to shine strongly at Force India this year, but the mid-season shenanigans surrounding Ricciardo's shock switch to Renault and the Force India takeover by Lawrence Stroll has left him on F1's scrap heap - somewhere he really does not deserve to be - for now.

AC: The French Grand Prix was generally a successful event, and as with the German GP, it was good to be back at a venue with so much history, and in a country that is so important for motorsport. But the traffic situation around Paul Ricard was a disaster, and was badly managed by the local authorities. It ruined the weekend for many people - including fans who couldn't use tickets that they'd paid for. Let's hope that it's sorted out for 2019.

BA: Sergey Sirotkin. Unfortunately for the young Russian and his backers they picked a bad season for to make the step up. The impressive 2017 Abu Dhabi post-season test performance that played a major part in convincing Williams to pick Sirotkin over Robert Kubica was as good as it got for Sirotkin really. Williams was awful this year - and Sirotkin was swallowed up in that. Beating a seemingly disinterested Lance Stroll in qualifying didn't do him much good, considering Stroll is not rated as a strong qualifier anyway, and Sirotkin failed to finish a single race inside the points (he inherited the one point he did score thanks to a couple of disqualifications). All in all, a season to forget - and largely a waste of £15million for SMP.

ES: The French Grand Prix. The world's oldest national grand prix returning was supposed to be a good thing. Instead, it was an awful race to attend for most involved. Yes, traffic is always going to be a problem there, but there's no need to compound it with poor organisation and unhelpful/rude direction. Some fans didn't return after problems early in the weekend, and the organisation's attitude was to suggest it was a great weekend and nobody had any problems. Most grands prix work hard to make their events a good experience to attend, but France clearly wasn't interested.

What was the biggest surprise of 2018?

JN: Haas making the gains it did. Having come through what was supposed to be its 'difficult' second year, few expected the team to be such a force this season. Kevin Magnussen was strong early on and Romain Grosjean came good after getting his head together mid-season - as both showed that Haas's new way of approaching the challenge of being an F1 team could work in this era.

ES: Daniel Ricciardo signing for Renault. It came as a surprise to most, as when he left the Hungaroring he was set to sign a new one-year Red Bull deal, but changed his mind while travelling to the US and triggered a series of unexpected moves in the driver market.

AC: Sauber could have been my star team, but it fits nearly into this category instead. With a contemporary engine, extra funding and those Ferrari links getting stronger, Sauber was always likely to make a step. But did anyone expect that by the end of the year the team that was last in 2017 would on occasion be best of the rest? The mercurial Leclerc will be gone in '19, and it will be fascinating to see how Raikkonen performs.

SM: Sauber's progress. It started the season by bringing Alfa Romeo back to F1 but also by fighting with Williams to avoid the back row. Then it ended the season regularly qualifying and finishing in the top 10. The progress was stunning and its race operations looked slick.

BA: That Ocon finished the season swapping his Force India race seat for a Mercedes reserve role. His original Force India contract included 2019, so he seemed totally safe to begin with, regardless of Mercedes' decision on Bottas. Even once Mercedes retained Bottas and Force India plunged into administration it looked as though Ocon would wash up at Renault, McLaren, or even Williams. Sadly not. If F1 functioned properly, Ocon would be on the grid next year, even accounting for his needless collision with Verstappen in Brazil.

GA: The improvement in performance from Sauber. The team showed the likes of McLaren and Williams that if you want it enough you can do it. Rather than just talking about it, Sauber just got on and did it.

Who or what was your biggest disappointment of the year?

ES: Vettel fading from title contention. The Hamilton versus Vettel battle was, for much of the season, a potential classic in the making. Sadly, Vettel made too many errors, Ferrari lost its way and Mercedes and Hamilton were simply too good. But the development war between the two teams was pure F1 at its best and a reminder that two teams going at it hammer and tongs is a great spectacle as the balance of power shifted between the two.

SM: Lance Stroll. As a second-year driver in a tricky car, Stroll should have kept Sirotkin at arm's length this year. While he did outscore the Russian, Stroll was often outpaced in qualifying and came across disinterested. Needs to fight back with his new team in 2019.

AC: It was assumed that dropping a Renault engine into the McLaren would mean the team moved up the grid by a significant degree, and certainly the management thought that when it decided to dump Honda. There a few respectable results early on, but it simply wasn't good enough for a team that should be at the sharp end, and that had the benefit of the Alonso magic. There's much to be done over the winter.

GA: McLaren. For those in the team to stand back and accept there performance level and not introduce developments to show they were putting up a fight was not the McLaren I remember both from my time working there and racing against it.

BA: Williams. Top-five finisher in the constructors' championship in every season of the V6 era until this one. The car was slow, unpredictable and didn't develop well at all, and two inexperienced drivers struggled to do much with what was given to them. This was comfortably Williams' worst campaign since 2013, except it didn't have the buffer of Caterham and Marussia to protect it from finishing bottom of the constructors' pile. The mini-revival that began so strongly in '14 now looks well and truly over for this once-great team.

JN: McLaren. This was supposed to be the year where Alonso and McLaren were going to return to the front of the grid. The switch to Renault and progress on the chassis front was going to be all it took. But it all went wrong as fundamental aero problems scuppered the team's campaign. McLaren underwent a painful management overhaul, Alonso had had enough and walked away from F1 at the end of the year and the team was left facing the prospect of a multi-year recovery.

If there was one thing you could change from 2018, what would it be?

JN: The gap between the top three teams and the rest. F1 enjoyed a brilliant fight at the front this year, and the midfield battle was fantastic too. It was such a shame though that there such a gulf between these two camps. F1 really needs more teams mixing it near the front and in with a chance of a podium, because it's not sustainable to have just a trio locked in an exclusive contest.

BA: That Bottas failed to win a race. He described this as his most disappointing season in an F1 - and in this respect, it was at least as bad as any other. A bit less pitwall dithering from Mercedes and a bit more aggression from Bottas might have changed the result in Bahrain; he seemingly did enough to win in China without the virtual safety car setting up a Red Bull strategic masterstroke; and he definitely had Azerbaijan and Russia in the bag until debris (Baku) and Toto Wolff (Sochi) said otherwise. Four wins might have sent Bottas into the winter in a different frame of mind. But they still wouldn't have made him a title contender. His final four races were very disappointing, and he has much to do next year to prove he has what it takes to compete with Hamilton in a straight fight, or else make peace with the prospect of remaining a "wingman".

SM: McLaren's competitiveness. Alonso's retirement from F1 is a big loss to grand prix racing. What made it even worse is the McLaren was such a bad car that he very, very rarely featured. Resigning such a talent to a bit-part role, mostly as light comic relief with amusing radio messages and press comments, was not an appropriate farewell.

GA: Close the gap between the big three and the midfield teams. F1 has always had those with the cash and those without, but the gap is just getting bigger and it means we have a two-tier formula. We only saw one podium finisher from outside the big three teams all season.

AC: There was a great battle for the world championship for around two-thirds of the season. The biggest regret about 2018 is the way Vettel's campaign faded, and that all were robbed of a more intense fight over the last few races as it became clear that Hamilton had it under control.

ES: Make Alonso's McLaren about 3% faster. There were times when Alonso seemed to lose interest this year, but watching him haul a difficult and unstable McLaren to far greater heights that it deserved was a joy to behold. His drive in a damaged car in Azerbaijan was one of the performances of the season, and he dragged McLaren to a far better constructors' championship position than it should have had. Let's hope F1 hasn't seen the last of him.