Red Bull Racing
The rules change for 2017 which put its focus on aerodynamics was expected to play into Red Bull's hands given that they have Adrian Newey, who is arguably the best Formula 1 car designer. However, during pre-season testing things did not look good and the team started the season well off the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari, however they were very clearly ahead of the other teams.
They really started to improve the car from Barcelona and made gradual progress during the season, and thanks to Max Verstappen they did earn two wins towards the end of the season which were absolutely on merit. It is worth noting that Daniel Ricciardo won at the chaotic Baku race as well, although that did come through a bit of luck, but you have to hand it to the Aussie who made a stunning move on one of the Safety Car restarts. Red Bull were hit hard by reliability issues, particularly from their engine supplier Renault and this was another factor which held them back, particularly in the points for the constructors' championship.
The progress Red Bull made during the season was impressive and they arguably were the team who developed their car the best, however, if they are to win the 2018 constructors' championship, they will have to hit the ground running and Renault must provide a reliable engine for next season (also a boost in horsepower won't hurt, either) but optimism will be high at the team, and now Verstappen has committed to the team till 2020. Also, if they are to keep Daniel Ricciardo beyond 2018, they must provide a winning car since his contract expires next year and seats at Mercedes and Ferrari are open for 2019.
Max Verstappen
His drive in the damp conditions in China from 16th on the grid to the podium was simply remarkable. However, at the start of the season, this was a bit of an exception, since the car was well off the pace and thus Verstappen was unable to show his true pace. Verstappen for the first half of the season bore the brunt of the unreliability issues of the Renault engine, retiring in Canada and Azerbaijan due to engine issues, whilst being involved in two first-lap collisions which were of no fault of his own in Spain and Austria respectively, whilst he retired in Bahrain with a brakes issue, and he started to get frustrated with the team. Also, he was at fault in Hungary for Daniel Ricciardo's retirement, when he locked up and collided into his team-mate, which was arguably a sign that his frustration was perhaps boiling over a bit and his only major error during the season. He was also extremely unlucky in Belgium when he retired with yet another engine issue, whilst in Singapore he was taken out by Sebastian Vettel at the start.
However, he kept his head down, and in Malaysia won the race on the day after his 20th birthday where he overtook Lewis Hamilton in a quite courageous move (admittedly Hamilton did rather back off and did not fight him too hard), and in Japan he ran Hamilton close for the win. Also, he produced a stunning drive in USA, charging through the field after starting in sixteenth place, overtaking Raikkonen on the last lap to finish, however, in the most unfortunate way was denied a podium finish after being extremely harshly adjudged to have left the track and gained an advantage whilst overtaking the Finn. Also, he celebrated this surge in form by signing a new contract with the team till 2020. The following race in Mexico saw him win again after making an extremely gutsy move on Vettel in the first corner to take the lead of the race, from which point he dominated proceedings.
If Red Bull provide a winning car for next year, then the 20-year-old could become World Champion and his potential is amazing. He is clearly the driver of the future and will win multiple World Championships, and he has matured during this season, this clearly seen following his second win in Formula 1 at Sepang and will only get better.
Daniel Ricciardo
Started the season with a DNF in Australia, whilst he also coincidentally ended the season with a DNF in Abu Dhabi. He made a few errors during the season, notably in qualifying where he crashed in his home race in Melbourne as well as crashing out in Baku (both times in Q3). However, some of his overtakes were simply outstanding, with his overtake in Baku at the restart following the red flag, as well as his move on Raikkonen in Monza. Ricciardo was also unlucky with reliability issues, such as in Australia, Russia (brakes issue), and even USA and Mexico (engine failure), whilst he was taken out by Verstappen in Hungary.
Ricciardo's consistency should be noted, particularly where he finished on the podium from Spain till Singapore every time except in Hungary where he retired and Monza although there he started at the back of the grid and drove impressively for fourth, and Great Britain where he again started at the back of the grid and rose to fifth. His qualifying pace however was a weak point, and lost out to Max Verstappen 13-7, whilst in the races where both finished, he lost out to Max Verstappen 5-2, which shows that he was arguably shadowed by his team-mate despite him finishing ahead in the points. Red Bull must give him a good car for next year, or else he will probably move on for the 2019 season after his contract expires, possibly to Ferrari (don't discard Mercedes though from it).