2017 F1 Season
20 races · Mercedes W08
The 2017 season brought hope back to Ferrari fans. With a rule change towards wider, faster cars, the Scuderia produced the SF70H, the most serious rival Mercedes had faced since the start of the hybrid era.
Sebastian Vettel led the championship for much of the first half of the year, in a direct duel with Lewis Hamilton that promised to go all the way. But the balance tipped after the summer: a Vettel crash at the start in Singapore and a run of Ferrari reliability problems deflated his chances.
Hamilton and Mercedes hit their stride in the closing stretch and the Briton was crowned four-time world champion, cementing his status among the greatest in history.
Drivers' Champion
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes W08
Constructors' Champion
Mercedes
20 races
Key moment
"Singapore: Vettel crashes with Verstappen and Räikkönen at the start — loses his championship lead."
What if 2017 had been raced 100 times?
We took the real 2017 grid — every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating — and re-ran the full 21-race championship 100 times.
| Driver | Avg. finish | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamiltonreal championMercedes | P1 | 100% |
| Sebastian VettelFerrari | P2.2 | 0% |
| Valtteri BottasMercedes | P3.2 | 0% |
| Kimi RäikkönenFerrari | P3.8 | 0% |
| Max VerstappenRed Bull | P4.8 | 0% |
| Daniel RicciardoRed Bull | P6 | 0% |
Lewis Hamilton wins 100% of the simulated championships. Runner-up Sebastian Vettel manages 0%: with that machinery, the real result was very nearly the only one available.
Tags
What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2017 championship-winning car?