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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. 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. 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.
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.
Entries[edit]
[edit]The following teams and drivers participated in the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
† All engines were 1.6 litre, V6 turbo hybrid configuration.
- ^ Scuderia Ferrari entered as "Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow" for the final five championship rounds.
- ^ Sahara Force India F1 Team was excluded from the championship when its parent company went into administration and the team was unable to continue after race 12 of the season. The team's assets were purchased by Racing Point UK Ltd. and entered into the championship as the new team known as Racing Point Force India F1 Team, which competed from race 13 (Belgian Grand Prix) onwards.
- ^ Red Bull Racing used Renault R.E.18 power units. For sponsorship purposes, these engines were rebadged as "TAG Heuer".
Free practice drivers[edit]
[edit]Across the season six drivers served as third or free practice drivers for teams. Lewis Hamilton ran the number one on his car in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix first practice.
| Constructor | No. | Driver name | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Force India-Mercedes | 34 | Nicholas Latifi | 7, 111
16, 18–202 |
| McLaren-Renault | 47 | Lando Norris | 13–14, 16–20 |
| Renault | 46 | Artem Markelov | 16 |
| Sauber-Ferrari | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 11–12, 16, 19–21 |
| Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 38 | Sean Gelael | 18 |
| Williams-Mercedes | 40 | Robert Kubica | 5, 9, 21 |
| Source: | |||
^1 – Contested under Sahara Force India ownership.
^2 – Contested under Racing Point Force India ownership.
Team changes[edit]
[edit]McLaren terminated their engine partnership with Honda and instead signed a three-year deal for power units supplied by Renault. The team cited Honda's repeated failure to supply a reliable and competitive power unit as the reason for ending the partnership.
Toro Rosso parted ways with Renault – allowing McLaren to finalise their agreement with Renault – and came to an agreement to use full-works Honda power units for the first time in history. As part of the deal, Red Bull Racing loaned Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr. to Renault's works team.
Sauber renewed their partnership with Ferrari, upgrading to current-specification power units after using year-old power units in 2017 and also signed a sponsorship deal that saw Alfa Romeo become their title sponsor.
Mid-season changes[edit]
[edit]Force India were placed into administration on 27 July 2018, during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. After speculation of a purchase, any sale of the team in a short time-span was complicated by legal proceedings against certain shareholders and the need for debt settlement. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll purchased the racing assets and operations of Force India through a company named Racing Point UK Ltd. The original team, known as "Sahara Force India", was then excluded from the Constructors' Championship on the grounds of their inability to participate in remaining races. This allowed a new team known as "Racing Point Force India" to apply for a late entry and start their participation in the championship from the Belgian Grand Prix. The team was required to keep "Force India" as part of their constructor name as their chassis had been homologated under the Force India name and Formula One sporting regulations required the constructor name to include the chassis name. The new team began with zero points in the Constructors' Championship, though their drivers retained the points they had scored in the Drivers' Championship. The other teams later agreed to allow the Racing Point Force India team to retain prize money accrued by Sahara Force India in the preceding years.
Driver changes[edit]
[edit]Charles Leclerc (left) and Sergey Sirotkin (right) made their Formula One débuts with Sauber and Williams respectively.
- Toro Rosso signed 2016 GP2 Series champion Pierre Gasly and two-time World Endurance champion Brendon Hartley as their full-time drivers for 2018, with Hartley becoming the first full-time New Zealander driver since Denny Hulme in 1974. Both Gasly and Hartley made their Formula One debuts with the team in the latter stages of the 2017 championship. Daniil Kvyat left the team and the Red Bull driver programme, securing a development role with Ferrari.
- Charles Leclerc, the reigning Formula 2 champion, made his competitive début with Sauber. Leclerc, who had previously driven in Friday practice sessions in 2016 and 2017, was hired by the team to replace Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein was ultimately unable to secure a race seat and was instead enlisted as one of Mercedes's test and reserve drivers while racing full-time in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series.
- 2008 runner-up Felipe Massa retired from Formula One at the end of the 2017 championship. Massa was replaced by former Renault test driver and SMP Racing driver Sergey Sirotkin, who made his competitive début with the team.