2018-12-31 06.45.25

Hamilton and Mercedes succeed in their toughest challenge yet by Keith Collantine (RaceFans)

Having largely dominated the V6 hybrid turbo era since it began in 2014, Mercedes were obvious favourites heading into the 2018 season. Ferrari, however, had the hardware to give them a serious run for their money.

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2018 was the first year that I really felt that Lewis Hamilton could lose the F1 world championship. Hopefully, Mercedes and the drivers have learned from the mistakes made and that both drivers and car have improved for 2019. But I must admit it was excited to see some of the races where I was not sure who would stand on the podium, Vettel, Hamilton, Kimi, etc.

The tech war fuelling the Mercedes/Ferrari battle

The tech war fuelling the Mercedes/Ferrari battle (motorsport.com)

There has been little to separate Mercedes and Ferrari as each has seized the initiative at various points of the campaign, with neither able to pull itself clear at the front.

It's exciting to see how evenly matched these teams area even though it means less well-funded teams linger in the rearview mirror.