Formula One 2017 Season Review

In the end, the final Grand Prix was a slight anticlimax: Lewis Hamilton, whose brilliance has soared to new heights this year, could only finish a meek second as his team-mate Valtteri Bottas cruised to victory in Abu Dhabi.

Ultimately, however, the race will just be a footnote. It was the season as a whole that counted, and the Briton will be very happy that it was only in the narrow context of the final race that he was leaving Abu Dhabi trailing his team-mate. A year ago it was all very different, as his attempt to use his lead to back his chasers into Nico Rosberg failed and a man he had once been friends with picked up the title he felt was enough to retire on.

The story this year was always likely to be about Hamilton, as long as he had a reliable enough car. Last year he suffered in this regard compared to Rosberg. This year was far from perfect in the mechanical department, but he was far from alone. Moreover, nothing Ferrari or Red Bull could do could detract from the fact that Hamilton was approaching this year with a burning desire to reclaim the crown and become the first Briton to win four world titles. A good car is always important, but at times Hamilton drove so well it seemed he could have won if he was driving the safety car.

At the start of the season, Sebastian Vettel had high hopes of his own. Few doubted that, this time, Hamilton would be the real number one at Mercedes, but with talk rife that Ferrari had a seriously good car, his response to the prospect of a battle royale with Vettel was "bring it on".

In the end, Vettel was able to do no more than finish a distant second behind Hamilton, with the title won with two races to spare. For the German, it was a hugely disappointing season after starting so well with victory in Australia.

In the early races, Hamilton found himself trailing. After finishing second to Vettel in the season's opening race in Melbourne, he reversed the result in Shanghai, only for the German to retake the lead in Bahrain, again with Hamilton second.

With Bottas winning in Russia and Vettel second, a fourth-placed Hamilton was left in danger of being cut adrift. He beat Vettel into second in Spain, but the German was back on top of the podium in Monaco, with Hamilton only seventh.

Hamilton bounced back to win in Canada, but while the next two races in Azerbaijan and Austria were won by Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas, Vettel finished in front of Hamilton. The see-saw battle continued as Hamilton won at Silverstone and Vettel in Hungary, but then the Briton took control.

With the title in the balance, the Mercedes superstar won four of the next five races and was second behind Max Verstappen in Malaysia. With three races to go, he had broken the back of Vettel's challenge, helped by the two Ferraris crashing out together in Japan. Hamilton duly secured the points he needed in Mexico and the glory was his.

With Mercedes winning the constructor's championship again, it is difficult to argue that Hamilton had the best car, albeit not by as big a margin as in 2016. But, as the teams gear up for another set of rule changes, this year has ultimately been about a serious contest for the title in which one great driver was beaten by an even greater one.