F1 Legend Sim/Seasons/2017

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

See the 2017 simulation Ver en español

Key moment

«Singapore: Vettel crashes with Verstappen and Räikkönen at the start, loses his championship lead.»

The 2017 grid, car by car

The 10 teams that raced in 2017, ordered by how good we rate the car. It is our own judgement, not an official figure: what it is worth is that the same yardstick is applied to every season since 1988, so you can compare eras.

#TeamOur ratingDrivers
1Mercedes
98
Lewis Hamilton · Valtteri Bottas
2Ferrari
95
Sebastian Vettel · Kimi Räikkönen
3Red Bull
90
Max Verstappen · Daniel Ricciardo
4Force India
83
Sergio Perez · Esteban Ocon
5Williams
77
Felipe Massa · Lance Stroll
6Renault
76
Nico Hulkenberg · Jolyon Palmer
7Toro Rosso
73
Carlos Sainz · Daniil Kvyat
8Haas
73
Romain Grosjean · Kevin Magnussen
9McLaren
70
Fernando Alonso · Stoffel Vandoorne
10Sauber
64
Pascal Wehrlein · Marcus Ericsson

How 2017 actually ended

The official final standings, from the Australian Grand Prix to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This is the real result; the simulation is further down.

DriverPointsWinsPodiumsPoles
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes36391311
2Sebastian VettelFerrari3175134
3Valtteri BottasMercedes3053134
4Kimi RäikkönenFerrari205071
5Daniel RicciardoRed Bull200190
6Max VerstappenRed Bull168240
7Sergio PérezForce India100000
8Esteban OconForce India87000

Hamilton took it by 46 points with 9 wins and 11 poles across 20 races. 5 different drivers won that season, and the last Grand Prix went to Valtteri Bottas.

Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).

2017, race by race

All 20 races: who started first, who won and from where, and how many cars reached the flag.

5different drivers won: Hamilton 9 · Vettel 5 · Bottas 3 · Verstappen 2 · Ricciardo 1.

3different teams won: Mercedes 12 · Ferrari 5 · Red Bull 3.

4different drivers took pole: Hamilton 11 · Bottas 4 · Vettel 4 · Räikkönen 1.

7different drivers stood on the podium.

6one-twos for a single team: Mercedes 4 · Ferrari 2.

11 of 20races were won from pole position.

1first-ever win: Valtteri Bottas (Russian Grand Prix).

From 10ththe win from furthest back: Daniel Ricciardo, Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

20 years, 1 daysthe youngest winner of the year: Max Verstappen, Malaysian Grand Prix.

77%of starts reached the flag (305 of 398).

12 of 20cars finished the Singapore Grand Prix, the race with fewest survivors.

5hat tricks (pole, win and fastest lap). Most fastest laps: Hamilton 7 · Vettel 5 · Bottas 2.

#Grand PrixWinnerStarted
1Australian Grand PrixSebastian VettelFerrari2nd
2Chinese Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
3Bahrain Grand PrixSebastian VettelFerrari3rd
4Russian Grand PrixValtteri BottasMercedes3rd
5Spanish Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
6Monaco Grand PrixSebastian VettelFerrari2nd
7Canadian Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
8Azerbaijan Grand PrixDaniel RicciardoRed Bull10th
9Austrian Grand PrixValtteri BottasMercedes1st
10British Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
11Hungarian Grand PrixSebastian VettelFerrari1st
12Belgian Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
13Italian Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
14Singapore Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes5th
15Malaysian Grand PrixMax VerstappenRed Bull3rd
16Japanese Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
17United States Grand PrixLewis HamiltonMercedes1st
18Mexican Grand PrixMax VerstappenRed Bull2nd
19Brazilian Grand PrixSebastian VettelFerrari2nd
20Abu Dhabi Grand PrixValtteri BottasMercedes1st

Pole goes to whoever started first, after penalties. «Finished» counts classified cars that took the flag. Fastest lap is the race fastest lap.

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.

DriverAvg. finishTitles
Lewis Hamiltonreal championMercedesP1100%
Sebastian VettelFerrariP2.20%
Valtteri BottasMercedesP3.20%
Kimi RäikkönenFerrariP3.80%
Max VerstappenRed BullP4.80%
Daniel RicciardoRed BullP60%

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.

What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2017 championship-winning car?

Build your own hypothesis

Hypotheses from 2017

What if Hamilton had driven the Ferrari in 2017?

One driver

▶ Simulate now

Drivers of 2017

Lewis Hamilton★ 7Sebastian Vettel★ 4
All seasons 1980-2025

Keep reading

What we have measured about 2017 and about what decided it, with our own numbers.

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