Chief Formula 1 writer
Analysis and opinion from our chief Formula 1 writer
I'm BBC Sport's chief F1 writer. I have been covering... Read more about Andrew Benson Formula 1 for more than 20 years and it has had me in its spell for most of my life.
I'll be sharing the fastest, most complex and sometimes simply the most thrilling sport in the world.
Every Formula 1 season has themes - storylines that define the year.
Some of these come as a surprise. Who could have predicted that 2018's championship would turn on so many errors from Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, for example?
As the sun sets on 2018, and Lewis Hamilton's glorious march to a fifth world title fades into history, thoughts turn to the new Formula 1 season.
What can be expected of a year in which Hamilton is looking for more success, Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel seek atonement, and a number of new names and faces - and one famous old one - look to make their mark?
Formula 1's bosses are heading into 2019 facing a critical period as they try to impose their vision on the sport.
Liberty Media's stewardship has produced mixed results since the US group took over in January 2017.
The 2018 Formula 1 season finished with a race of limited excitement, but managed to echo some of the themes of the season.
Lewis Hamilton was just too good for his rivals, even in less-than-straightforward circumstances, Sebastian Vettel was just not quite quick enough to challenge.
There are two sides to every story, they say, and that was certainly true of the incident between Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon that decided the destiny of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was cruising to what would have been a superb second victory in a row when the two crashed on lap 44, forcing the Red Bull into a spin, and handing the lead and eventual victory back to Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton has been breathing rarefied air for a while now, but as he sealed his greatest achievement so far, a fifth Formula 1 world championship, the overwhelming thought was just how much further he could go.
The 33-year-old is the equal second most successful driver in history, in terms of titles, drawing level with the great Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio. Suddenly, Michael Schumacher's all-time record of seven, which for a while looked impregnable, is within reach.
Five points. A seventh place. That is all Lewis Hamilton needs to clinch a fifth world title, and he has three races to do it.
Many expected it would be in the bag by now, and on Sunday morning at the United States Grand Prix it looked a good bet, with the Mercedes driver starting on pole and title rival Sebastian Vettel fifth, but needing to finish second if Hamilton won to keep the championship alive.
What had been a toe-to-toe battle between two evenly matched foes has turned into a rout almost in the blink of an eye.
Six weeks ago, Ferrari had the fastest car and Sebastian Vettel dominated the Belgian Grand Prix. Yet in Japan on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton took his sixth victory in seven races and moved to the brink of a fifth world title.
"You need to weigh it up. Do I want to be the baddie on Sunday evening for many of the right reasons or the idiot in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season? I would rather be the baddie today and not the idiot at the end of the year."
That is how Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff justified his decision to impose team orders for Valtteri Bottas to hand victory in the Russian Grand Prix to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton, through sheer force of his talent, has grabbed hold of this championship with a vice-like grip. But there is no escaping the fact that Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel have helped him along the way.
Each race, Hamilton seems to find new ways to deal another hammer blow to Ferrari's hopes, and his rivals seem powerless to stop him. In fact, the pressure the world champion and his Mercedes team are applying seems to be slowly breaking their rivals' resolve.
