Sebastian Vettel Wins 2018 Championship in Final Race

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	63	Jules Bianchi		59.331
2	1	Sebastian Vettel		59.430
3	2	Lewis Hamilton		59.761
4	62	Dave Cassidy		59.807
5	27	Nathan McKane		1:00.031
6	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		1:00.228
7	5	Valtteri Bottas		1:00.312
8	29	Pastor Maldonado		1:00.351
9	28	Romain Grosjean		1:00.385
10	91	Max Verstappen		1:00.499
11	90	Daniel Ricciardo		1:00.708
12	31	Rhys Davies		1:00.742
13	30	Mike Rockenfeller		1:00.745
14	99	Kevin Magnussen		1:00.853
15	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		1:01.060
16	32	Daniel Melrose		1:01.265
17	98	Salvatore Miccoli		1:01.333
18	42	Davide Valsecchi		1:01.386
19	56	João Paulo de Oliveira		1:01.688
20	43	Sébastien Bourdais		1:01.788
21	6	Ma Qinghua		1:01.866
22	12	Scott Dixon		1:01.988
23	66	Esteban Ocon		1:02.012
24	55	Artem Markelov		1:02.108
25	67	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		1:02.142
26	11	Carlos Sainz Jr		1:02.180

* demoted five places for changing engine/gearbox

Report:

A thrilling world championship went down to the wire, after 37 races, we had two drivers who could etch their names into history forever. A shot at greatness would await the winner. Jules Bianchi closed the gap even more by setting pole position, leaving only three points between him and Sebastian Vettel.

Regrettably, that work was undone with a terrible start, dropping Bianchi down the order. Unlike Vettel did on Saturday, Bianchi could not recover from that loss and was unable to prevent the Caterhams from running away. Sebastian Vettel looked the favourite the seal the deal and he did the necessary things.

Even when Lewis Hamilton had delusions of grandeur and decided to pass Vettel, the German regained his focus (after unleashing an ugly tirade on the team radio) and went on to win the world championship, despite Bianchi recovering to third place. He is joined in celebration by Sauber and Haas, who defeated their rivals in the WCC.

This race is also the last one for a handful of Formula One teams. The ill-fated Flanders project, having been bought out by Fernando Alonso and his sponsors, will probably be quickly forgotten, especially as their last race was pretty anonymous. DGN’s final race ended in an ugly mess, a sorry end to a decent run in Formula One.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	2	Lewis Hamilton		46:32.232	15
2	1	Sebastian Vettel		+1.387	12
3	63	Jules Bianchi		+16.572	12
4	62	Dave Cassidy		+18.120	8
5	29	Pastor Maldonado		+26.175	6
6	27	Nathan McKane		+34.874	5
7	28	Romain Grosjean		+35.616	4
8	21	Stoffel Vandoorne		+40.668	3
9	91	Max Verstappen		+52.430	2
10	43	Sébastien Bourdais		+58.018	1
11	30	Mike Rockenfeller		+1 Lap	0
12	32	Daniel Melrose		+1 Lap	0
13	90	Daniel Ricciardo		+1 Lap	0
14	31	Rhys Davies		+1 Lap	0
15	6	Ma Qinghua		+1 Lap	0
16	22	Johnny Cecotto Jr.		+1 Lap	0
17	12	Scott Dixon		+1 Lap	0
18	42	Davide Valsecchi		+1 Lap	0
19	67	Esteban Ocon		+1 Lap	0
20	99	Kevin Magnussen		+1 Lap	0
21	11	Carlos Sainz Jr.		+1 Lap	0
22	66	Marcel Agyemang-Badu		+1 Lap	0
23	56	João Paulo de Oliveira		+1 Lap	0
DNF	55	Artem Markelov		Puncture	0
DNF	98	Salvatore Miccoli		Transmission	0
DNF	5	Valtteri Bottas		+Engine	0

Fastest Lap:

Sebastian Vettel – 1:00.895

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Sébastien Bourdais – you run out of superlatives to describe his late-season efforts.

Reject Of The Race:

DGN-Mercedes – their final Formula One outing was miserable