Sebastian Vettel opened up the 2018 Formula 1 season by winning the Rolex Australian Grand Prix. How do the first driver power rankings look?
The 2017 Formula 1 season opened up with Sebastian Vettel taking the checkered flag in his Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix, and that is exactly how the 2018 Formula 1 season got underway as well.
After Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton started the race from the pole position and dominated early, Scuderia Ferrari’s Vettel, who started the race in 3rd place, made his pit stop during the virtual safety car period, which allowed him to exit the pits ahead of Hamilton, whose on-track speed was restricted due to the virtual safety car period.
Vettel ended up leading every lap of the race after Hamilton made his pit stop a few laps prior to the virtual safety car period despite the fact that Hamilton led every lap of the race before he made his pit stop.
Here is the first edition of the new formulated 2018 Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings. For information on how the Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings are calculated, read the preseason article on Beyond the Flag that focuses on the release of the formula used for these calculations and the calculations of the power rankings for the NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar (and now Formula E).