As in 2012 and 2013, I am running down the top five of this year’s F1.com Race Edits that have been produced after each Grand Prix by FOM since the start of the 2008 season. For my rundown of the best F1 Race Edits ever from a couple of years back, see part 1 here and part 2 here.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain becoming a night race for its tenth time on the calendar was an inspired decision. The cars looked stunning under the desert lights and we were treated to by far the best race ever in the kingdom. The goosebumps-inducing music followed by guitar chords reminds me of the Bahrain Race Edit from 2008 which featured Munich by The Editors. This time, the producers cleverly decided to let the Arabic vocals remain throughout the video, which adds to the energy wonderfully.

BRITAIN

Monaco and Silverstone edits always seem to make my end-of-year lists, but Monaco slipped off this year because FOM in my opinion failed to match the excitement of their 2013 edit. For Britain, however, they yet again captured the atmosphere of the Silverstone perfectly. The music’s good but I still prefer 2008’s edit with Primal Scream’s Can’t Go Back or 2009’s with Kasabian and Fire. I wonder if FOM are no longer allowed to use contemporary pop music? It’s a shame because the visuals are of higher quality these days but it’s the audio that makes an edit stick in the brain for years to come.

GERMANY

Mid-season was when FOM productions really seemed to hit their stride this year. Sometimes it’s nice to have a big build up in edits before the on-track action starts (Monaco, Silverstone, Abu Dhabi etc) but I love how they just get on with it for this one. Massa’s crash is handled brilliantly – instead of slowing the music when he first rolls, they wait until the final flip of the car. Some slow motion Torro Rosso flames and an inspired dubbing of wheel-spin as the Sauber spins in slow motion on the start-finish straight makes this an unusual but worthy pick for this list.

HUNGARY

Man, the music at the start of this is beautiful, isn’t it? And then FOM go and do that thing I always love – cutting the audio as the weather turns for the worse. It never fails to be dramatic and gets you pumped for a wet-weather race edit. Since Formula One started being broadcast in High Definition circa 2011, the quality of the shots – those that are suddenly switched from full speed to slow-motion in particular – has improved drastically. Marina Bay in Singapore or the Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi look stunning from any helicopter angle, but it’s in the rain that the real beauty of a Formula One car at speed is revealed. As precipitation in Budapest in August is so infrequent, this year’s edit is a rare gem to be savoured.

BELGIUM

Last year I picked the two races I attended – Melbourne and Singapore – for this list, but this time I chose to ignore Monza where I spent an incredible weekend, in favour of the Spa edit. Many videos this year have great content but I preferred to go for videos that wowed me with their clever production values, where they enhanced the action in some way rather than just delivered it. This video really makes me want to go to the Belgian Grand Prix. Although I must say that any Belgian GP edit is not a true masterpiece without a track by Pendulum. Their frenetic riffs match the drama of Spa 2008 (Propane Nightmares) or 2010 (Witchcraft) like nothing else. In this one, however, we have some great slow motion Instagram-style filters over Hamilton’s pit stop following that moment with Rosberg.

MY ATTEMPT AT AN EDIT: ITALY

I can’t begin to explain how much fun I had making this video of my trip to Monza in September. I have studied the art of an F1 edit for seven years now and feel I am slowly getting better at shooting and editing them! Decide for yourself – check out my attempts from last year in Australia and Singapore.

MY 60-SECOND CIRCUIT TRIBUTES

This year I also made a couple of 60-second tributes to the unique atmospheres two of my favourite circuits, Monza and Singapore. You can check them out below – I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did making them.