Formula 1: 2018 mid-season awards

Best driver: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

First of all, it has to be acknowledged that Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have taken the title fight to another level this season. Yes, they drive the fastest cars, but are also turning their Finnish teammates into Top Gun-certified “wingmen”, and there are (maybe) three other drivers on the grid who could consistently compete with them if everything else was equal.

With nine races remaining, 2018 stands to be the most competitive season between two teams in the V6 turbo hybrid era (2014 season to present), which is fitting, because either Hamilton or  Vettel will finish this year by joining Juan Manuel Fangio as a five-time Formula 1 champion, trailing only Michael Schumacher for the most ever (seven).

Hamilton should not be leading this championship, but somehow, after gargantuan recovery drives, the 33-year-old is 24 points ahead of Vettel at the break.

Just four races ago, the Briton surrendered his spot at the top of the standings, retiring from the Austrian Grand Prix with a fuel pressure issue, allowing his German rival to make up a 14-point deficit and take a one-point lead.

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The very next weekend, disaster struck again, as Hamilton lost the lead from the pole position at the start of his home Grand Prix, only to then spin upon contact with Kimi Raikkonen and watch the rest of the field clear him through the first sector at Silverstone.

However, the four-time champion rejoined the track and made short work of the backmarkers, and with the help of the safety car, he rescued his afternoon to finish on the second step on the podium. Most importantly, he prevented Vettel from opening up what could have been a 26-point advantage in the championship had the collision forced him to retire.

Trailing by eight points in the driver standings, Hamilton faced another major hurdle at the German Grand Prix, as a power failure during the second session of qualifying meant that he would start the race from 14th on the grid.

For the second Sunday in a row, Lewis found himself rapidly slicing through the field, but with the help of some unpredictably chaotic weather, and a certain Ferrari sailing into the barrier, he pulled out a simply unbelievable victory at Hockenheim to retake control in the drivers standings by 17 points. He has since added seven points to that lead by winning at the Hungaroring.

Fine margins are amplified in Formula 1, and that has certainly been the case with Hamilton this season. His stunning performances in Britain and Germany to minimize the damage of catastrophic mistakes are ultimately the difference in the championship through 12 races.

Honorable Mention: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

If Sebastian Vettel does not lock up his front right tire on a greasy Hockenheim circuit while comfortably leading the Germany Grand Prix and subsequently fly into the stadium section wall, then he would probably still be ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the championship, and this award would be going to him.

For the sake of an epic duel between Hamilton and Vettel going down to the wire, we can only hope that this minor lapse in concentration is not the key turning point of the season and that it does not cascade into an avalanche of further problems for Ferrari, similar to that which saw the team practically unravel in the second half of last season.

Do you agree with these mid-season award picks? Will Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel win the 2018 Formula 1 championship? Let us know in the comments.