F1 2018: Top 5 Driver Performances

#4 Charles Leclerc

Leclerc's highest finish came in Azerbaijan, but he had a number of other standout performances too

Saying that Charles Leclerc was the Formula 1 rookie of the season in 2018 isn't much of a statement, especially when his only competition for that award was Sergey Sirotkin, but awarding him with fourth on this list speaks volumes about the youngster's talent.

Choosing between Leclerc and Gasly is a difficult one - I wrote an article on the subject earlier in the season if you're interested - but I give the advantage to the Monegasque, partly because of Leclerc's better wheel-to-wheel racing and also due to Marcus Ericsson having a better season than Brendon Hartley.

It could be argued that Leclerc had a slower start to the season than Gasly, a point I somewhat agree with, and it's backed up when you realise that Pierre had five races towards the end of 2017 to bed himself into the pinnacle of motorsport.

Leclerc's highest finish of the season was sixth place in that chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a race where he was arguably lucky to place that highly, but there were plenty of other superb drives.

The best of these were towards the end of the year, seventh places in Russia, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi showed us all exactly when Charles will be partnering Sebastian Vettel in Australia in March.

The best of those showings was probably his seventh at Interlagos, finishing in the best of the rest spot despite Marcus Ericsson putting the performance of his career in during qualifying the previous day.

Don't rule out Leclerc beating Vettel over the course of a season, especially if the German struggles like he did in 2018 once again.