2018 Formula One World Championship

"F1 2018" redirects here. For the video game based on the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship, see F1 2018 (video game).

A black man in his early thirties with short facial hair smiling while wearing a hat.
Lewis Hamilton won his fifth Drivers' Championship
portrait of Sebastian Vettel wearing sunglasses
Sebastian Vettel was runner-up, driving for Ferrari.
portrait of Kimi Räikkönen wearing sunglasses
Kimi Räikkönen finished the season in third place, in his final season for Ferrari.
a grey open wheeled racing car is driven around a track
Mercedes retained the Constructors' Championship for a fifth consecutive year
Ferrari finished second in the Constructors' Championship for the second consecutive year.
Red Bull Racing finished third in the Constructors' Championship for the second consecutive year.

The 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars and the 69th running of the Formula One World Championship. Formula One is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Drivers and teams competed in twenty-one Grands Prix for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championship titles.

For the second consecutive year, the season featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. The 2018 season saw two four-time World Champions, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, as the main Championship challengers. It was the first time in Formula One history, two quadruple world champions would be competing for a fifth title, and the season was billed as the "Fight for Five" by journalists and fans.[1][2][3] The championship lead ebbed and flowed between the two title contenders, the points lead swapping hands five times throughout the year. At the halfway point after the British Grand Prix, Vettel led the title battle by eight points. Hamilton clinched his fifth World Drivers' Championship title at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, with the team securing its fifth consecutive World Constructors' Championship title at the following race.[4][5][6] Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel finished runner-up, 88 points behind Hamilton, with his teammate Kimi Räikkönen finishing third. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes finished 84 points ahead of Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer in third, 152 points behind Ferrari.[7]

In 2018, the championship saw the introduction of a new cockpit protection device, known as the "halo". The introduction of the halo was the first stage of a planned rollout that would see the device adopted in all FIA-sanctioned open wheel series by 2020.

  1. ^ Narwani, Deepti (6 April 2018). "2018 Formula 1: The fight for five". www.foxsportsasia.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  2. ^ "2018 Season Review: The Fight for Five". Salracing. 27 December 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ Ratnayake, Asanka Brendon (23 March 2018). "'First to five' contest adds spice to 2018 Formula One season". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. ^ Chandhok, Karun (26 November 2018). "F1 2018: Abu Dhabi sums up the season". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  5. ^ Euronews (27 December 2018). "2018 review: Hamilton and Mercedes dominate Formula 1". euronews. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  6. ^ "2018 F1 World Championship | Motorsport Database". Motorsport Database - Motor Sport Magazine. 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Formula One 2018 Season, 2018 Classifications, www.fia.com, as archived at web.archive.org". Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.