ESPN charts the dramatic pendulum swings in the 2017 championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel and how the former prevailed to claim the fourth world title of his career.
Ferrari lives up to the hype
The 2017 F1 regulation shake-up promised to end Mercedes' unchallenged dominance of the V6 turbo era. But it was Ferrari, not preseason favourites Red Bull, who appeared to have made the biggest step forward, with an air of excitement from the moment the team unveiled the beautiful SFH70. Encouraging winter testing pace meant Ferrari arrived in Melbourne as the centre of attention.
Though Lewis Hamilton took pole, he was unable to shake Sebastian Vettel, who performed an "over-cut" at the pit-stop window to pass the three-time world champion. The victory proved Ferrari's pace was legitimate. If the F1 circus had arrived in Melbourne with a sense of apprehension, it left with some degree of certainty -- we had a genuine championship fight on our hands.
Championship standings after Melbourne:
Vettel - 25
Hamilton - 18
Hamilton and Vettel trade blows
Vettel's victory in Melbourne created a wave of excitement for a title fight with Hamilton -- despite their dominance of the modern era, the two men had never fought each other outright for a championship. In China Mercedes was ready to fight to reclaim its world championship as Hamilton claimed pole and raced off into the lead, while Vettel turned in a series of breathtaking moves to retake second position. In a triumph of the 2017 regulations, Hamilton and Vettel then raced flat-out to the flag.
In Bahrain, Valtteri Bottas claimed a maiden pole position but a tyre pressure issue saw him lose out to Vettel early on -- Bottas would later have to give second place to his charging teammate, but Hamilton fell a couple of laps short of having the chance to challenge for the lead. Three races in, and Vettel held a narrow advantage in a title race which genuinely looked too close to call.
Standings after Bahrain:
Vettel - 68
Hamilton - 61
Bottas joins the race
Mercedes was in big trouble in Sochi. Struggling to understand the behaviour of its W08 at the Russian circuit, Ferrari stole a front-row lockout. Hamilton, especially, was uncomfortable with the balance of his car and it seemed like a golden opportunity for Ferrari to stretch out its lead in both championships. But Bottas had other ideas.
Making a lightning start from third, the Finn beat both Ferraris on the long run down to Turn 1 and would turn in a tremendous drive to win -- holding off Vettel after a late mistake brought the German back into contention late on. Hamilton finished a frustrating race languishing in fourth, which would be a sign of things to come for the Englishman in two races' time.
Standings after Sochi:
Vettel - 86
Hamilton - 73
Bottas - 63
Wheel-to-wheel in Spain
The championship season reached Barcelona without any of the contenders going toe-to-toe for a victory. That all changed in Spain. In what turned into a fascinating tactical duel, Vettel and Ferrari pitted early in a bid to undercut Hamilton, who stayed out for seven laps longer than his main rival. Bottas -- forced to use an older engine after issues earlier in the weekend -- then dutifully played the role of rear-gunner to stall Vettel's charge.
The move worked perfectly -- although Vettel emerged from his final stop ahead of Hamilton, the pair were separated by less than a second and Hamilton had the advantage of the quicker Pirelli compound. After one wheel-banging moment forced Hamilton across Turn 1, the Mercedes driver made a move stick on Lap 44. It was bittersweet for Mercedes -- Bottas' engine had failed a few laps earlier.
Standings after Barcelona:
Vettel - 104
Hamilton - 98
Bottas - 68
Ferrari sublime in Monaco
Mercedes' erratic W08 was exposed once again in Monaco. The car Toto Wolff would go on to label a "diva" was out of sorts throughout the Monte Carlo weekend -- the Ferrari, by contrast, was not. Once again it seemed to be Hamilton who struggled with the narrow set-up window of his car and he became a shock casualty of Q2, before Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel beat Bottas to the front row of the grid. It was Raikkonen's first pole position since the 2008 French Grand Prix.
The fight for the win would be controversial. Vettel stalked teammate Raikkonen for the opening stint before Ferrari called in the race leader -- and subsequently released him into traffic. Vettel then unleashed his own version of "Hammer Time," pumping out several fastest laps before his own stop, which saw him emerge ahead. Vettel won and an upset Raikkonen questioned Ferrari's tactics. To most people watching, it was clear the Italian team was fully behind the man who left the principality with a 25-point lead.
Standings after Monte Carlo:
Vettel - 129
Hamilton - 104
Bottas - 75
Vettel's moment of madness
Hamilton got his title challenge back on track in Canada -- turning in a sublime lap for pole position and converting into a win, while Vettel was forced into a recovery drive to fourth after early contact with Max Verstappen. From there F1 headed to Baku, which would provide the biggest flashpoint of the campaign.
Hamilton and Vettel led away at the start of a race which featured several Safety Car periods. At the end of the second of those, as Hamilton slowed the pack as he prepared to bolt away for the restart, Vettel misjudged the pace of the Mercedes and hit the back of the No. 44 car. In a moment of utter madness, Vettel pulled up alongside Hamilton and drove into the side of his car in protest. The move earned Vettel a 10-second stop-go penalty, relegating him out of contention.
The drama didn't finish there, however: a loose headrest on Hamilton's car forced Mercedes into a precautionary stop, dropping him behind fourth-place Vettel and handing a shock victory to Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel would escape further punishment from the FIA and left Baku with his lead enhanced. A championship battle which had been largely respectful suddenly had an edge to it.
Standings after Baku:
Vettel - 153
Hamilton - 139
Bottas - 111
Ferrari's challenge falters
With Hamilton taking a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, Vettel was handed a fantastic opportunity to extend his lead in the championship in Austria. Bottas beat Vettel to pole and made the perfect getaway to charge into an early lead. A drab affair sparked into life in the closing stages as Bottas came under threat from Vettel. The championship leader was within DRS range for the final two laps, but Bottas resisted Vettel's pressure to cross the line just 0.658s ahead.
Hamilton narrowly missed out on the podium as he fought back from eighth to finish fourth and limit the damage. Hamilton bounced back from heavy criticism for his no-show at F1 London Live to utterly dominate the British Grand Prix weekend. Having taken pole by 0.5s, Hamilton romped to his sixth win at Silverstone, while late tyre trouble hit both Ferraris and left Vettel limping home to finish a lowly seventh. The championship fight was down to just a single point.
Standings after Silverstone:
Vettel - 177
Hamilton - 176
Bottas - 154
Vettel's Hungarian masterclass
After failing to record a win in five races -- a run stretching back to May's Monaco Grand Prix -- Ferrari arrived at the tight and twisty Hungaroring in a quietly confident mood, with the circuit's narrow nature expected to play into the hands of Ferrari's nimble SF70H. Prerace predictions of a Mercedes struggle came to fruition as Ferrari locked out the front row. Vettel led away from pole and put in arguably his best drive of the year -- battling a steering issue throughout the race -- to record his fourth win of the year. Raikkonen acted as rear-gunner to his teammate to seal a one-two finish and ultimately secure a new deal for 2018.
In an attempt to put pressure on the leading Ferraris, Mercedes instructed Bottas to let a faster Hamilton through on the proviso the Briton would hand third place back to his teammate before the end, which he did on the final lap -- a decision Mercedes boss Toto Wolff later described as the "most difficult call" his team had ever made.
Standings after Hungary:
Vettel - 202
Hamilton - 188
Bottas - 169
Hamilton fights back
Hamilton returned from the summer break with a point to prove, and he did just that in Belgium. Having matched Michael Schumacher's all-time pole record of 68 at Spa, the Briton made a clean start to hold his lead over Vettel through La Source and just about stayed in front on the run to Les Combes. The field made the most of an opportunity to pit for fresh rubber following a late Safety Car. Despite taking on the slower soft compound tyre, Hamilton fended off Vettel's advances on the ultra-softs to clinch an important victory, trimming Vettel's title lead in the process.
Hamilton turned in a mighty lap in wet conditions two weeks later in Italy to move clear of Schumacher's pole tally, as Ferrari struggled in the treacherous conditions during qualifying. With Vettel only sixth on the grid, and slower cars around him, Hamilton led home a comfortable Mercedes one-two -- over 30s clear of the recovering Vettel in third -- to become the first back-to-back winner in 2017 and take the championship lead for the first time.
Standings after Italy:
Hamilton - 238
Vettel - 235
Bottas - 197
Drama in Singapore
The general consensus within the paddock was that Vettel would be able to reclaim his championship lead in Singapore with Mercedes anticipating their most difficult weekend of the season since Monaco. Mercedes indeed struggled, with Hamilton able to secure only fifth on the grid as Vettel stormed to a breathtaking pole position.. From there the job looked simple: win the race around a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult and the momentum would be back in his favour.
A downpour shortly before the start added an element of spice, but nothing was to usurp the drama that occurred within seconds of lights out. In an attempt to cover off the fast-starting Verstappen, Vettel dived across to the left, but did not see teammate Raikkonen, who had made an even better getaway charging up the inside. All three drivers came together and were wiped out in the carnage, while Hamilton sailed around the outside, avoided the mayhem, and ultimately drove to a commanding win to move 28 points clear.
Standings after Singapore:
Hamilton - 263
Vettel - 235
Bottas - 212
Double trouble for Ferrari
Ferrari was back on form in Malaysia and Vettel looked destined to take a much-needed pole position. However, the Scuderia's weekend would begin to unravel in qualifying, as Vettel's car was hit by an engine issue during Q1 which saw him fail to set a timed lap. Raikkonen's car would suffer a similar fate on the Finn's way to the grid as he failed to take the start. On a weekend when Mercedes claimed it had only the third-fastest car, Hamilton took pole and finished second after being passed by Verstappen early on in the race. Vettel highlighted Ferrari's competitiveness with a superb recovery drive from the back of the grid to fourth, but the damage was already done.
Vettel needed to bounce back in Japan with a win to keep his title hopes in his own hands, but disaster would strike again just moments before the start. A faulty spark plug, worth just $59, would prove his downfall, forcing him into retirement for the second time in three races, while Hamilton held off a charging Verstappen to score his eighth win of the season and take a monumental step toward his fourth title.
Standings after Japan:
Hamilton - 306
Vettel - 247
Bottas - 234
Hamilton wraps it up
Hamilton continued his strong form at the Circuit of the Americas with pole position, but was beaten into Turn 1 by Vettel. Hamilton quickly caught and passed his main rival for the lead of the race, moving himself to the brink of the championship by gaining another seven points on the Ferrari man.
Mexico was set to be a thriller with Vettel on pole ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton, but all the title-based drama occurred on the opening lap -- and specifically the first corner -- as Vettel and Hamilton collided. The impact left Hamilton with a puncture at the very back of the pack, while Vettel also dropped down the order having been forced to change his front wing.
Vettel put in a sterling recovery drive to finish fourth, but it proved fruitless in terms of the championship, as Hamilton completed a far-from-memorable run to ninth. That result was enough for the Briton -- who continued his record of finishing every race this year inside the points -- to seal his fourth F1 world title, making him the most successful British driver in the history of the sport.
Standings after Mexico:
Hamilton - 333
Vettel - 277