ROUND BY ROUND

AUSTRALIAN GP, MELBOURNE MARCH 25

Lewis Hamilton qualifies six tenths clear of the pack but is denied victory by Mercedes’ strategic miscalculation under virtual safety car conditions, which hands the race to Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. Haas suffers a double blow as both cars retire while running strongly inside the points thanks to two botched pitstops. 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

BAHRAIN GP, SAKHIR APRIL 8

Vettel fends off Valtteri Bottas to win again. After Mercedes misjudges Vettel’s strategy, Bottas is slow to give chase, and thinks better of attempting a pass on the final lap. Hamilton recovers from a grid penalty to finish third, while Kimi Raikkonen retires when his car strikes a Ferrari mechanic during his pitstop. 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

CHINESE GP, SHANGHAI APRIL 15

Bottas looks good to win this race, after jumping Vettel in the pits, but the timing of the VSC leaves him struggling to resist a late Red Bull charge. Max Verstappen goes off trying to pass Hamilton and crashes into Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo’s more measured judgement allows him to steal victory from Bottas. 1 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

AZERBAIJAN GP, BAKU APRIL 29

Another race Bottas should have won. This time, debris eliminates him with just three laps left, following a late-race restart after the Red Bull drivers wipe each other out battling over fourth. Vettel botches a bid for the lead moments before Bottas’s puncture and drops to fourth, as Hamilton inherits victory. 1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 3 Sergio Perez (Force India)

SPANISH GP, BARCELONA MAY 13

Feeling comfortable with the set-up of his Mercedes for the first time since Australia, Hamilton dominates in Spain, winning by more than 20 seconds. Vettel runs second until Ferrari’s over-eager appetite for Pirelli’s special low-gauge tyres forces him to make a second pitstop and drops him behind Bottas and Verstappen. 1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

MONACO GP, MONTE CARLO MAY 27

After Verstappen’s crash in final practice, Ricciardo takes pole and leads comfortably until an MGU-K problem robs his car of power and forces him to avoid using seventh and eighth gears. Ricciardo wins despite the problems, describing the victory as “redemption” for the Red Bull pitstop blunder that cost him in 2016. 1 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

CANADIAN GP, MONTREAL JUNE 10

Vettel grabs the championship lead with a comfortable victory from pole in Montreal, as Hamilton endures a difficult weekend on one of his favourite circuits and ends up a distant fifth after suffering engine power “drop outs”. A failed challenge on Bottas at the start forces Verstappen to settle for third. 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

FRENCH GP, PAUL RICARD JUNE 24

Hamilton uses Mercedes’ delayed engine update to great effect, winning from pole as Vettel is restricted to fifth after colliding clumsily with Bottas on the opening lap. Bottas’s title hopes take a further blow as he can only recover to seventh, while Verstappen takes up vain chase of Hamilton and finishes seven seconds adrift. 1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

AUSTRIAN GP, RED BULL RING JULY 1

An anomalous race where both Mercedes retire with mechanical problems after running 1-2 for the first 12 laps. A first-lap error that gifts position to Verstappen thus costs Raikkonen his shot at victory. Vettel recovers from a grid penalty for impeding in qualifying, including passing Hamilton on-track, to complete the podium. 1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

BRITISH GP, SILVERSTONE JULY 8

A brilliant pole lap leaves Hamilton physically shaking from the effort, but his good work is undone when Raikkonen turns him around at Village on lap one. Bottas inherits the lead when Vettel pits for a second time, but loses out to a bold Vettel pass at Brooklands six laps from the finish. 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)