So, there it is. What a season from the reigning champ. At times it looked like the Ferrari would be too much of an obstacle on his way to equalling the great Juan Manuel Fangio, and on very rare occasions he wasn't performing as well as he's expected to perform. But just like last year, he came back stronger than anyone else from the summer-break while the opposition imploded under the massive pressure that comes with a WDC-battle.
A symbolic snapshot of Vettel's and Lewis's respective career trajectories these last few seasons
The route to title #5 has been full of memorable moments and races, such as Hockenheim when he won starting from P14, Monza when he showed what a brilliant racer he is with a perfectly dosed aggressiveness against Vettel and Kimi or Singapore when he was untouchable the entire weekend and just one step above everyone else. He won races which on paper he shouldn't have won, while also winning most of the races he was expected to win. Being the unquestionable rainmaster of this generation he put the car in places it didn't deserve in qualifying, which gave him an opportunity to steal points from Vettel like in Hungary.
Rainmaster at work, circa 2018, colorized
All in all, you won't find many seasons in the history of F1 when a particular driver deserved a championship more than Lewis Hamilton in 2018. Congratulations on 5 World Drivers' Championships, Lewis! Onto the next target which can only be to beat the rest of Michael Schumacher's significant records and further establish yourself as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all times.
Looking out for those all time records
A great champion on and off the track: Lewis taking a selfie with an elderly fan. Bless!
Well done anyway.
