[Ninja-Badger]

With the last race done, and focus ramping up to 2019.

Mercedes stay top, Williams fell to the bottom (even with a head start on Racing Point Force India).
McLaren have had they’re eyes opened to the scope of their deficit. Honda were able to achieve 3 more points than in 2017.
Force India went under, and now has new owners.
There are plenty of driver moves for 2019 as teams prepare for the next regulation shakeup.
A few drivers are missing off the grid for next year (Alonso, Ocon). While Kubica is set to make his long-awaited return with Williams.

We’ve had a year with the Halo and F1’s new theme tune. With Liberty trying to open F1 up to more people.

What are your thoughts on the season gone and future prospects?

[Alan Boiston]

I think its been a good yer overall, more of a battle at the front with a mix of winners from the top 6 and some good mid-field action as well. For all of the media waffle, Mercedes are still the strongest tea by some margin but Ferrari are closing the gap, as are Redbull.

McLaren started the year well but switched development to the 2019 car back in May, making the rest of a year a never-ending test. Renault also ceased development of this years car as soon as they had established 4th place in the constructors. Force India were surprisingly strong and I look forward to seeing how they develop. Haas failed to maximise their package and I really feel Romain is holding the team back. Torro Rosso worked well as a test bed for Honda which showed regular signs of improvement though still a lack of reliability. Finally Williams, a dismal year and in any other team Claire would be out of a job by now, a total disaster.

Driver wise we all know Alonso is amazing. Lewis wasnt put under enough consistent pressure, Vettel did more damage to his own championship than anyone else could do. Daniel Ricciardo is amazing as ever and could have been a title contender if the team let him, Max hasn’t learned anything yet, lets seem him race clean under championship pressure. More later when I have time.

[Ninja-Badger]

2019’s driver line-ups. [with arbitrary ratings, off the top of my head, for 2018]

Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton [(9/10)] Hand’s down deserves the championship this year. But a rather lackluster start to the season makes hard to give full marks.]
Valtteri Bottas [(7/10) Let down by team when he should have had much stronger results to his name.]

Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel [(8/10) Dropped the ball in what should have been a more controlled championship lead.]
Charles Leclerc [(9/10) Stellar first year. Can’t wait to see what he can bring to a top team.]

Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen [(8/10) Despite some of his antics, he’s showing why everyone needs to watch their backs (especially with his late-season results).]
Pierre Gasly [(7?/10) Hard to really gauge given the Honda factor, but was more than enough against his teammate and capped it with some solid results.]

Renault
Nico Hulkenberg [(6/10) Not really much to say with Renault happy to occupy the 4th spot, but comfortably beat Sainz.]
Daniel Ricciardo [(8/10) Let down by reliability. Strong performances, but maybe starting to fall behind Max…]

Haas
Romain Grosjean [(3/10) Terrible start to the season. But was still able to show brief glimpses of the Grosjean we want to see.]
Kevin Magnussen [(5/10) While not gaining any favours from other drivers, Magnussen was much more consistent than his teammate, although that doesn’t say much.]

McLaren
Carlos Sainz [(5/10) Beaten by his teammate, but still helped the team to secure 4th place.]
Lando Norris [(n/a) Hopefully McLaren can do a better job than they did with Stoffel.]

“Racing Point”
Sergio Perez [(6/10) Another solid enough season from Perez
Lance Stroll [(3?/10) Williams had nothing to show this year, making it hard to see their drivers’ capabilities]

Sauber
Kimi Raikkonen [(7/10) A pretty much “as expected” season from Kimi at Ferrari. A win helping to car his Ferrari career.]
Antonio Giovinazzi [(n/a) Possibly a dark-horse of the newcomers.]

Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat [(n/a) Back again. Maybe he’ll help bring some form of consistency.]
Alexander Albon [(n/a) Last minute switch from Formula E. Let’s hope its worth it, and not another product of Red Bull’s revolving door…]

Williams
Robert Kubica [(n/a) His injury aside; there’s still a lot against him from being out for so long. But I’m trying to be optimistic.]
George Russell [(n/a) Here’s hoping Williams have a car to help Russell continue his momentum.]

Leavers
Fernando Alonso [(8/10) Not how we would have wanted Alonso to bow out of F1. But that hunger was still there to see.]
Stoffel Vandoorne [(4/10) Had troubles all season, and really struggled in qualifying. Hopefully he can rebuild himself in Formula E.]
Esteban Ocon [(7/10) Solid year, despite the speculations surrounding him. A shame to not have him on the grid next year.]
Marcus Ericsson [(3/10) Started well; but was too little, too late. And spent most of the season out-classed by his rookie teammate.]
Brendon Hartley [(2/10) Struggled to make any real impact in F1.]
Sergey Sirotkin [(3?/10) Hard for Sirotkin to make a case for himself in the car Williams built. Especially with the start of the season being particularly torturous.]

[Author]

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