As for Max and Lewis, Max was better the first half of the season, but had to drive " desperately" the last 3 races as Mercedes just became unbeatable pretty much. The only mistake big mistake he had that can be put 100% on him was his shunt during Q in Saudi, but as i said before he and red bull were getting pretty desperate, as it seemed the WDC was slipping away.
And without the shenanigans from Masi, Lewis would have won the WDC is a fairly comfortably, yet still Max did have a better season, no doubt.