[6][7][8][9][10] The car was driven by four-time World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas, both of whom remained with the team for a sixth and a second season, respectively.

[14] At the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Mercedes trialled a spoon-shaped central section with distinctive vortex-generating serrations on the trailing edge of the main profile.

[15] The jagged serrations which are bonded to the wing underside, will energize the airflow, trying to claw back some of the down-force lost to the narrower outboard ends.

[24] The car was also driven by 2018 FIA Formula 2 driver George Russell during in-season testing at Hungaroring, where he set the then-outright lap record of the circuit at a time of 1:15.575.

However, both Haas cars - Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean - suffered retirements due to cross-threaded wheel-nuts being fitted loosely which resulted in an unsafe release into the race track.

[31] Mercedes were unable to match the outright pace in Bahrain Grand Prix, where they could only secured the 2nd row of the grid, with Ferrari locking out the front-row.

[33] During the race, Kimi Räikkönen's second pit-stop suffered an unsafe pit release, which promoted Hamilton to the podium, after a healthy recovery run from ninth on the grid.

[37] Once again, Mercedes were unable to match the outright pace in Chinese Grand Prix, where they could only secured the second row of the grid, with Ferrari locking out the front-row.

[38] During the start of the race, Valtteri Bottas seized the opportunity by overtaking Kimi Räikkönen in Turn 1, while Lewis Hamilton lost a place to Max Verstappen.

[43] For the 3rd consecutive race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Mercedes were unable to match the outright pace of the Ferrari SF71H, where Sebastian Vettel took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

[45] Further contact from Kimi Räikkönen, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Sergey Sirotkin, Sergio Pérez and Kevin Magnussen on lap 1 caused a safety car period.

Valtteri Bottas took full advantage of the 2nd safety car period by doing his mandatory pit-stop, while Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton also pitted for new tyres.

[45] During the safety car restart on lap 47, Sebastian Vettel made an attempt to take back the lead of the race by slip-streaming Valtteri Bottas into turn 1.

A dramatic finish on lap 49 before the chequered flag, where race leader Valtteri Bottas suffered a high speed right rear tyre puncture after running across a foreign object debris along the start-finish straight.

[49] As the race got started, Romain Grosjean spun across the track in turn 3, creating a huge accident in lap 1 which eliminated Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly, bringing out a six-lap safety car period.

[53] In a rather uneventful race (with the exception of a big crash on the first lap between Lance Stroll and Brendon Hartley), Vettel went on to take a win which was never in doubt.

[57] Hamilton eventually took the win of the French Grand Prix, ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen, whist Valtteri Bottas could only recover to seventh.

Mercedes appeared to struggle for pace against Ferrari at the German Grand Prix, with both drivers not completing any running in the wet final practice session.

At the difficult to overtake circuit, Hamilton pulled away for his sixth victory at the Hungaroring, while Bottas struggled with his strategy and was demoted down to fifth in the early stages from a starting position of second.

However, the FIA approved of Ferrari's software and electronics usage of said system, observed from additional sensors put in the red cars since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Ferrari struck back in the Belgian Grand Prix, with Vettel passing Hamilton from second at the start of the dry race, having conceded pole in the mixed conditions in qualifying.

Mercedes actually arrived with a large update package, centered on a new power unit and a ribbed rear wheel rim, but Hamilton was unable to pass Vettel in the race and settled for second.

Ferrari's straight-line advantage was apparent in the high-speed Monza, having cured their car's shortcomings in the previous year's Italian Grand Prix, and duly took a 1–2 in qualifying after Räikkönen received a tow from Vettel.

Hamilton and Mercedes uncharacteristically struggled in the United States Grand Prix after a cross-weight set-up mistake from the team after a rushed build-up, though he still secured a podium to further improve his grip in the championship after Vettel recovered from a spin to fourth.

Hamilton secured the championship with a similarly subdued performance in Mexico, taking fourth after an engine failure for Daniel Ricciardo in front of him.

The Constructor's Championship was clinched by a victory in Brazil, though Hamilton struggled with power unit issues and Bottas with tyre performance, rumored to be linked to the closing of the holes in the rear wheels, a fact Mercedes denied.

Hamilton took an opportunistic victory after Verstappen, having passed the two Ferraris and Mercedes who qualified in front of him into the lead, collided with a lapped Esteban Ocon and spun, dropping him down to second.

Ferrari surprisingly struggled in the race, having started on the supposedly superior strategy using the soft tyres, compared to Mercedes' choice of supersofts.