(Episode 1/7) Highlights of the 2018 season

The return of the French GP
It was still the best news of the pre-season: France finally found its national event, 10 years after the last race at Magny-Cours (Nièvre) ! This time, the Paul-Ricard (Var) won, while the Castellet track had no longer received the F1 since 1990.

With three French people on the starting grid, French hopes were high. Alas, Esteban Ocon (Force India), Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and Romain Grosjean (Haas), probably too motivated by the stakes, played bumper cars at the start and did not offer the slightest point to their supporters.

We grant you, this event did not go without problems. Let's send our hats off to the spectators stuck in traffic jams on Friday, for whom patience has been requested to the extreme!

Hamilton equals Fangio
It's not every four mornings that Juan Manuel Fangio is joined on the list of the most successful F1 drivers! Four, or rather five mornings, since this is the number of crowns acquired by Lewis Hamilton at the end of 2018.

The Englishman, despite taking off more slowly than his direct rival Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in the spring, never, ever, disunited in adversity. A poor performance in Canada (5th) also followed byabandonment in Austria could have plunged him into turmoil.

However, while the German made a series of blunders, the leader of Mercedes showed the extent of his class by winning on his opponent's land at Hockenheim, then on those of the Scuderia at Monza. The steamroller was not going to stop until the finale in Abu Dhabi.

His statistics are striking: 83 poles (record) matched by 73 victories. The famous 91 races won by Michael Schumacher no longer seem very far away...

The hanging of Red Bull in Azerbaijan
We felt that Daniel Ricciardo et Max Verstappen were circling around in Baku. On the 40th lap, the Dutchman applied his preferred strategy (changing line while braking) while the Australian delayed his braking as much as possible. It could only end badly!

The two men gave up, while their boss was very angry, without blaming one more than the other. Perhaps this crisis management made it possible for Daniel Ricciardo to understand that he would never be the darling of the team…

Gasly at the foot of the podium in the second race
Without a doubt the happiest surprise of the season. Even the person concerned didn't expect it! Although he had never driven in Bahrain in F1, Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) had a perfect weekend in the Middle East.

Fifth on the grid, the 22-year-old Frenchman kept his head on his shoulders during the hour and a half effort, moved up one place at the start and gave Toro Rosso its best performance of the decade. “We knew we had the potential, but to go from there to finishing fourth is just magical. »

Iceman wins for the first time since 1
Eventually, we began to despair. Kimi Räikkönen's return to Ferrari in 2014 only caused a mountain of frustrations and disappointments. But that was before ! In 2018, the Finn recalled why he is a world-class driver.

" The Iceman " started by setting fire to the stands of Monza (Italy) by slamming the pole at the last minute. Finnish TV commentators still remember it!

The next day he came across a bone called Hamilton, and an overtake from the outside of the second chicane only served to delay the deadline. However, it was written that the 39-year-old was going to be rewarded for his courage.

End of October, 5 years, 7 months and 4 days after its previous success in Australia for Lotus (in 2013!), Kimi Räikkönen finally held the winner's trophy in his hands! Kimi doesn't care about the way, but his victory in Austin (United States) was not stolen, between an ideal start and a perfect defense against Lewis Hamilton.

We don't want to harm Sebastian Vettel, but the last man to win the title in Red, pole sitter and winner of a GP remains Iceman...

To follow until December 31 on AUTOhebdo.fr: the best-of F1 (part 2), WRC, Endurance, GT/Touring, Single-seaters & Other Racing