This season has really been all about Mercedes (again) and their continuing dominance of the sport. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have won 16 out of the 19 races so far this season, with 12 of those victories going to Hamilton, who this year has been phenomenal, surely the best season of his career to date. His off track lifestyle and persona has divided opinion, but on track he has let his driving do the talking. This more often than not has rattled the cage of Nico Rosberg, who is still a fast driver, and has had some great drives himself this year, such as in Austria, getting the jump on Lewis into turn 1 and controlling the race thereafter, and recently in Mexico, on it from Friday to Sunday, taking pole, fastest lap and the race win, his first 'triple crown' in a race.
However, Rosberg's qualifying form has tailored off dramatically, after taking 11 pole positions last year, he currently sits on 5. Nico claims this is down to focusing more on race pace but that hasn't really been there either this year. Recently, he has started to look more like the real Nico Rosberg. Four poles in a row seemingly showing he has recovered his qualifying form and an assured drive to victory in Mexico. Austin by all rights was his. He took pole and despite dropping to fifth at turn 1, he muscled his way into the lead and even passed Hamilton very decisively on track. However, he made a mistake with just a handful of laps to go and handed victory and the title to Hamilton. Rosberg should also have won in Russia but for a throttle damper failure, and a loss of power off the start line in Japan and a shove off the track by Hamilton lost him another potential victory. If Rosberg though can carry on his Mexican form and win the last two races, it does indeed bode well for 2016. With the title over, perhaps Nico now feels more at ease with his racing?
Hamilton though has been sensational, dominating not just his team-mate but the entire season, wrapping up the championship with three races still to go. Mercedes themselves have improved, the W06 more reliable the W05 and a more complete package than the already amazing W05 from 2014. This year, the Silver Arrows have been incredible, and have had no competition at all from the rest of the field...that is except, from Ferrari.
Ferrari had a horrific 2014. Two podiums, neither of them wins, three team principals in the same year, star driver Fernando Alonso leaving for McLaren-Honda, sackings galore and Luca Di Montezemolo stepping down as president, no one expected them to have such a good year that they have had in 2015. Yes, they aren't yet on Mercedes level but they have been the second fastest team all year and Sebastian Vettel is now the man we saw prior to last year. Happy, smiling, cheerful, full of humor and on track, fast and consistent and showing all the skill we saw from him at Red Bull in his championship winning years. He won the second race of the year with great tyre management and a incredible race pace, grabbed an opportunity in Hungary with both hands to take the win when Mercedes fluffed their starts, and dominated qualifying and the race in Singapore, taking the first non Mercedes powered pole position of the hybrid era and taking a brilliant win whilst leading ever single lap, although he didn't get his customary fastest lap on that day, his old team-mate Daniel Ricciardo robbing him of that one! Ferrari themselves have made significant strides with the car, the SF15-T is much better than the F14-T, and with a vastly improved power unit and hybrid system they have made huge strides this season.
The only slight blot for them has really been the man in the other car. Kimi Raikkonen is a much better driver this year, but has scored less than half the points of Vettel. He hasn't won a race, despite the car being capable of doing so, and has scored only two podiums. The first was in Bahrain, and a fantastic strategic drive gave him second place, and nearly the win with both Mercedes suffering brake by wire failures in the closing stages. The second came in Singapore with third place but he was no match for his team-mate on that day, and couldn't pass the Renault powered Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo either. At times he was two seconds a lap slower than his team-mate. Kimi is staying on in 2016, as Ferrari really could do with some continuity for once as they continue to rebuild themselves and aim to challenge the Silver Arrows in 2016. Beyond that though, it is unclear where Raikkonens future lies. He see's himself as a contender for the title next year as long as the car is quick enough to allow him to do so. If he doesn't step up another gear though, 2016 could well be Kimi Raikkonens swansong in Formula 1.
Whilst 2015 has been better than expected for Ferrari this year, it has been somewhat disappointing for Williams. They lie third place again in the constructors in a bit of a no mans land, safe from the under-powered Red Bull team behind them but nowhere near Ferrari in front of them. Whilst being third with a much smaller budget than the teams they are around is a feat the team can again be proud of, they had much higher expectations going into this year. In pre-season testing, both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were singing the praises of the FW37, identifying it as a much better car than the brilliant FW36 from 2014 and the team were hopeful of challenging Mercedes for victories whenever the opportunity arose. Overall yes, the car may be better to drive, but they have slipped behind Ferrari and only have four podium finishes to their name this year.
At this time last year, they had 7 podiums and a pole position and were easily the second fastest team on the grid. It isn't a huge difference but with Ferrari jumping ahead of them the podium has been harder to reach. However, a podium was lost in Russia after Raikkonen made a ridiculous dive bombing move on Bottas on the last lap of the race and a potential victory was lost at Silverstone as well after both cars made lightning starts. The car though is still atrocious in the wet and the team have even set up a 'Wet Weather Working Group' to try and find out why.. However, they are again consistent podium challengers and would appear to be finally rebuilding and heading in the right direction, after several ups and downs in recent years. Felipe Massa is driving brilliantly and pushing Valtteri Bottas hard, who himself is driving fantastically and made some fantastic overtaking moves this year, most notably on Perez in Russia before he was clouted by Raikkonen and despite having fewer podiums than last year, they have still scored more points than they did last season. So even though its not been what they expected, Williams can still smile and be proud of where they are and where they are heading. Third place two years in a row, and the first time they have achieved this since the early 2000's. Now we will have to wait and see if the team can go one step further in 2016, and challenge Ferrari and Mercedes for race victories.
The public spat between the team and Renault has not helped them in the slightest. Had the team handled things less publicly and more civilized, perhaps the whole mess they are in now might not have happened. The jobs of many people are hanging in the balance and four drives careers could well be over before they have had a chance to begin. Verstappen and Sainz have excelled at the junior Toro Rosso team and Ricciardo and Kvyat have had some strong races too, Kvyat's drive to fourth in Mexico very impressive and he was unlucky that the safety car late in the race handed a podium to Bottas' Williams. Formula 1 cannot afford to lose two teams and four drivers. Lets hope this whole mess gets sorted out soon.
The midfield has been full of action all year, and the fight for fifth place in the constructors championship has largely been between Lotus and Force India. Force India arrived late to the party pre-season and only debuted the full 2015 car at Silverstone, race 9 of the championship, but they had scored solid points before then and since the full VJM08 was launched the team have been in the points at nearly every race since. The car has performed brilliantly and so have Nico Hulkenburg and Sergio Perez, Hulkenburg having a great mid-season after winning the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche, and Perez starting to really showcase his driving talents, and taking a podium for the team in Russia after the Bottas and Raikkonen and collision. If the team finish in 5th place it will be their highest ever position in the constructors table.
With Force India looking to be safely in fifth place, behind them is a great battle for sixth place between Lotus and Toro Rosso. Recently Toro Rosso have scored heavy points when Lotus haven't, the Italian team taking a fine 4th and 7th place finish at Austin recently and getting both cars into the points again in Mexico, with the team now just six points behind Lotus and with potentially their best ever finish in the championship up for grabs. This is despite Lotus scoring a great podium at Spa with Romain Grosjean, but the financial troubles the team have faced this year has rather stalled development of the E23. With Renault close to purchasing the team, 2016 should be much better for the Enstone gang. Lotus had an awful 2014 and have recovered solidly this year as have Sauber, lying in 8th place in the standings. The car, basically an upgraded 2014 car with the new Ferrari power unit is much improved and Felipe Nasr took a brilliant 5th place in Melbourne at the start of the year and took a strong 6th in Russia, with Marcus Ericsson bringing in more points for the team. It must feel surreal for them right now, because right now, Sauber are ahead of McLaren....
McLaren's renewed partnership with Honda promised so much but has produced so little. The team are ninth in the standings, an appalling performance and the revived Manor Marussia squad now has almost as many sponsors as the world championship winning team! Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have let their frustration out at times (Alonso's "GP2 engine!" radio message in Japan being a stand out moment) but both are still keeping the faith that the project will come good, although they will have to wait until next year to see if that happens. The issue has been the ERS system, whilst the ICE has been largely pretty good. Surely it can only get better for McLaren?
Having survived administration, this year was always going to be one of rebuilding for the former Marussia squad, now Manor F1. They have soldiered on with last years car and Ferrari engine and have secured a deal to run brand new Mercedes power units from next year onwards, and with a brand new chassis as well as a technial deal with Williams. However, the passing of Jules Bianchi affected everyone in the team, and arguments between new owner Steven Fitzpatrick and Graeme Lowdon and John Booth would appear to be resulting in the latter two leaving the team at the end of the year. Bob Bell has already left, and is now heading back to Enstone. Will Stevens, Alexander Rossi and Roberto Merhi have all done solid jobs behind the wheel and the safe bet would be on Rossi and Stevens driving the team next season, although new DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein is also in contention. With Lowdon and Booth leaving however, not long after things were starting to look quite good for Manor, things might not end up being so great heading into 2016.
With the championship over and just two races left, the teams will be battling out as hard as they can to finish the season on a high. This year, it has all been about Mercedes and Hamilton...can Ferrari, Williams or anyone else challenge them next year? Unfortunately for us, it will be a long wait to find out!
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