F1 2018
Hello & Welcome

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@motorsport PRESENTER: @darnscotty

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F1 2018
Hello & Welcome

Hello and welcome to the 2018 season of Formula.

The teams have been working around the clock to prep for the new season. Lewis Hamilton will be looking to defend his World Championship title after winning his fourth one last year.

However, there are a lot of questions that needs to be answered. Who can topple Mercedes? Will it be Ferrari or Red Bull Racing? McLaren, Torro Rosso – Honda or Renault engines? What will the impact of the new rules be and many more…

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MERCEDES

The Mercedes team has won the last four consecutive Constructors Championship, putting a lot of pressure on the team to perform. Their efforts did not go unnoticed after they secured a successful nomination for World Team of the Year category.

Hamilton was nominated for the World Sportsman of the Year category, going up against the likes of two tennis legends, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

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FERRARI

The prancing horse has not won a Driver or Constructor Championship since 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi left F1 to compete in the World Rally Championship, but returned for F1 in 2013 to drive for the Lotus team. Scruderia Ferrari signed him up again for the 2014 season with Sebastian Vettel joining in 2015.

The FIA F1 2017 season saw Vettle dominating at the beginning with Hamilton close by. Vettle remained in front on the Drivers Championship for the first 12 races.

On the thirteenth race at Ferrari’s home town, Hamilton won his second consecutive race. Vettle finished third and this was the first time Hamilton took the lead. Hamilton won the next race at Singapore after the two Ferrari’s collided with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, taking all three out of the race.

Kimi will have to perform this year, the new Sauber driver Charles Leclerc is eyeing his seat for 2019! Let’s hope this isn’t the case, we have grown fond of his sense of humor. But it’s not all doom and gloom for him, along with Hamilton, Raikkonen received a Laurens reward nomination. Kimi’s nomination was for Best Sporting Moment when he changed a young Ferrari fan Thomas’ tears into joy and big smiles. Winners announced on 27 Feb!

VIDEO: Kimi & Thomas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiq5d-G68XU

2017 ended with Hamilton on 363 points against Vettel’s 317. Hamilton’s team mate Bottas took third overall and ended with 305 points and in fourth was Kimi with 205 points. Daniel Ricciardo was very close in fifth with 200 points, in front of team mate Max Verstappen on 168.

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RED BULL RACING

The team have a lot of work on their hands to see if they can finish as many races as possible. Both drivers had 13 retirements together, against the top two teams who had one for Mercedes and four for Ferrari.

Max Verstappen managed to win two races, Malasia and Mexico while Daniel Ricciardo took the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Three wins and third overall.

Big news is that Aston Martin signed up as the main title sponser and the team will be known as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. Phew, a mouth full! Aston Martin’s CEO, Andy Palmer, noted that the prestigious car manufacturer is looking to join Formula 1 as an engine supplier.

This isn’t the first time the two companies have worked together. Recently they launched a $3 million hypercar, the AM-RB 001. When released later this year, it should be the fastest street legal car in the world.

^{AM-RB 001 source}

^{AM-RB 001 source}

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FORCE INDIA

Oddly enough Force India had one retirement for each driver, taking into consideration the amount of times these two collided last year! Sergio Perez could not finish higher than 4th place during a race while team mate Esteban Ocon achieved a high of 5th place.

HEAD TO HEAD

Team	2017 Drivers	2018 Drivers	Car Launch
Mercedes ^source	Lewis Hamilton Valterri Bottas	Lewis Hamilton Valterri Bottas	22 Feb 2018
Ferrari ^source	Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen	Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen	22 Feb 2018
Aston martin Red Bull Racing ^source	Daniel Ricciardo Max Verstappen	Daniel Ricciardo Max Verstappen	TBC
Force India ^source	Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon	Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon	TBC
Williams ^source	Lance Stroll Felipe Massa	Lance Stroll Sergey Sirotkin	15 Feb 2018
Renault ^source	Nico Hülkenberg Jolyon Palmer	Nico Hülkenberg Carlos Sainz Jr.	20 Feb 2018
Toro Rosso ^source	Daniil Kvyat Carlos Sainz Jr.	Pierre Gasly Brendon Hartley	26 Feb 2018
Haas ^source	Romain Grosjean Kevin Magnussen	Romain Grosjean Kevin Magnussen	TBC
McLaren ^source	Stoffel Vandoorne Fernando Alonso	Stoffel Vandoorne Fernando Alonso	23 Feb 2018
Sauber ^source	Marcus Ericsson Pascal Wehrlein	Marcus Ericsson Charles Leclerc	23 Feb 2018

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