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Lewis Hamilton had not just his best ever F1 season in 2018, but one of the most consistent and impressive campaigns in motorsport history.
The Brit simply didn't make any mistakes last year, something that even Ferrari will admit, albeit begrudgingly. It was far from an easy championship victory, as there were times when the pendulum undoubtedly swung in Sebastian Vettel's direction.
In the early stages, Vettel was the clear favourite, the second of his two wins in the opening rounds at Bahrain was one of the best of his illustrious career so far. But what went from for the German? Not much, Hamilton was just on another level.
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#5 First Win in Azerbaijan
After having the win stolen from him in Australia, a grid penalty in Bahrain and an average race in China meant that Hamilton was without a victory in the first three rounds.
Sebastian Vettel had won a pair of races, but the man that the German was meant to battle the season out with was 9 points adrift. It seemed as though Hamilton was going to have to wait until the European season began to stand on the top step, as Vettel was confidently leading for the majority of the Grand Prix.
The Red Bull drivers clashing on Lap 40 of 51 brought out the Safety Car and threw the race into chaos, Valtteri Bottas now led the pack, with Vettel still followed by Hamilton.
When the race resumed, Vettel made a move for the lead, but locked up and ran wide, falling behind Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez. Bottas would soon run over some debris on the pit-straight, puncturing one of his tyres and ended his race prematurely.
In the end, Hamilton held off Raikkonen for the win, while Vettel was unable to get past Perez, crossing the line fourth. This was the first of 11 victories for Lewis last year, a crucial win on the way to his fifth title.
#2 Incredible comeback at Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton had won every race at Silverstone in the current V6-era until 2018, but there were plenty of positives to take from the Brit's performance.
Hamilton secured his sixth pole in a row at his home race on Saturday, but Sunday got off to an awful start. Lewis was slow off the line, being passed by both Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. Kimi Raikkonen was also challenging, but the Iceman came into contact with his Mercedes rival and the Silver Arrow was pointing in the wrong direction.
The Defending Champion fell to P20 and last and required a huge effort for even a decent damage-recovery race. However, Hamilton was giving absolutely 110% and it was showing, making it back into the top 6 before the end of Lap 10 of 52.
When Marcus Ericsson crashed at Abbey, the Safety Car would once again come to Hamilton's rescue. At the restart, the 5-time Silverstone winner was in third but had old tyres meaning that he was unable to challenge Vettel for second place.
Seb was making the most of his new rubber, Bottas was defiant in his defence, but the Red car would lead once again with just 5 laps remaining. Bottas then continued to struggle, being passed by Hamilton soon after, although the Finn was never going to put up a fight.
In the end, Hamilton left his home race with an 8-point deficit to Vettel, when it easily could've been 26, over a race win's worth.
#3 Qualifying in Hungary
Like at Silverstone, the Ferraris were the fastest cars in the paddock, but the Hungaroring is one of Hamilton's best hunting grounds, winning more races there than anybody else.
Mercedes gambled on a wet setup in the hope of rain, and the German team got their reward in Q2. Vettel was still fastest overall, though, but the rain fell more intensely in time for Q3.
On the full-wet tyres, Hamilton out-performed his car to claim pole position for the sixth time in Hungary. This ended up being crucial, as the Brit would win the following day thanks to Bottas keeping the red cars behind for most of the race, something that would've been impossible if Qualy was dry throughout.
His lead was now up to 24 points ahead of Vettel, thanks to a superb victory at Hockenheim.
#4 Passing the Ferraris in Italy
Like Silverstone & the Hungaroring, Monza brings good memories back for Lewis Hamilton, he's won times in Italy, only Michael Schumacher had more.
Thanks to his fifth victory here in 2018, though, he's now matched the German legend. Hamilton qualified third, but the Ferraris were on the front row and were looking to win their home race for the first time since Fernando Alonso in 2010.
At the start, Sebastian Vettel was flustered by Kimi Raikkonen's defence, putting Hamilton onto his gearbox. Lewis hung his Mercedes around the outside, before Vettel ran wide and into the side of him, spinning Red 5 out of contention.
Kimi was driving superbly, pulling out a gap to Hamilton before the first round of stops. The Iceman came into the pits ahead of Hamilton but was behind Valtteri Bottas, his compatriot would do the Ferrari driver no favours.
Raikkonen couldn't get past the Silver Arrow, despite his tyre advantage, and had his 5.5-second advantage cut to half a second by the time Bottas stopped.
Hamilton had DRS but was running out of both laps and time. Lewis made a lunge on Lap 45 of 53, this time holding onto his advantage into the second chicane. This was the first of 6 wins in the final eight races for Hamilton, a momentum that will be extremely hard to stop for 2019.
#5 That lap in Singapore
Like Hungary and Belgium, the Ferraris were clearly the fastest cars on the track.
Hamilton would've done very well to out-qualify them, failure to so meaning that a win would be extremely difficult overtake around. The Mercedes maestro produced what was probably his best ever lap to grab pole but this time, it didn't require a change in climatic conditions.
The Brit rounded the Marina Bay Street Circuit in record time, over three-tenths of a second ahead of Max Verstappen in second. Vettel started in third, and would never get close enough to challenge Lewis, thanks to awful strategy from Ferrari.
Former F1 team owner, Eddie Jordan said after the Grand Prix that this was "Championship point" for the 2018 driver's championship, as Singapore was Vettel's best circuit and the German would have to gain back a 40 point deficit, almost 2 wins.
Did we miss something obvious? Let us know what your favourite Hamilton moment from 2018 is in the comments below!
Be sure to follow George Howson on Sportskeeda for an article going over Sebastian Vettel's top 5 moments of the 2018 season, it'll be out soon.
