Wednesday 30 December 2015

Drivers of the year 2015


2015 wasn't a classic Formula 1 season by any stretch of the imagination, but while stuffing my face with the last of the Christmas food and dredging the last drops of alcohol I sat down to watch the F1 2015 season review DVD. 

It's brilliant, it looks gorgeous, I don't know what they did to the picture but that and the different camera angles that weren't broadcast gives it a cinematic quality that demonstrates how intoxicating this sport can be. I wonder why the F1 production team don't present the sport like this every race because it looked faster, more brutal and intense than what I've been watching over the last 12 months. At the very least it got my mind working to finally sit down and think about my drivers of the year. Twenty-two took part, so below is my list of how they performed in 2015.

22. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren-Honda)


Magnussen took part in the season opening Australian Grand Prix in place of the concussed Fernando Alonso. He needn't have bothered turning up, with car problems throughout he didn't even make it to the starting grid. He deserved better than the way he's been treated by McLaren, being dropped from the reserve role on his birthday. For now it looks like his motor racing career lies outside of F1, which I think is a great shame.


21. Roberto Merhi (Manor Marussia-Ferrari)


Struggled in the early part of the season and didn't impress much in general. He had a height and weight disadvantage to his team mate Will Stevens and it also didn't help he was turfed out to make way for Alexander Rossi for five races at the back end of the season. Occasionally he showed what he could do, but it probably wasn't enough to stay in the sport.

20. Will Stevens (Manor Marussia-Ferrari)


In the first half of the season Steven's dominated Merhi and he looked genuinely impressive as he competed in his first full season. But as the season wore on Merhi came back at him and I think doubts will have been raised when GP2 graduate Rossi stepped into Merhi's car for five races and was immediately on the pace and beating Stevens. In general it was a good year, but it wasn't great, although how great can you be in a Manor is always going to be tricky.  

19. Alexander Rossi (Manor Marussia-Ferrari)

Rossi finished runner-up in GP2 this year and also graduated to the Manor team for five races. I thought he was immediately impressive as he matched full timer Steven's in the races and out-qualified him in the final 3. It was difficult to show what he could really do with the equipment he had but it was a good starting point that could well see him on the grid for next year.

18. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus-Mercedes)


Oh Pastor. Sometimes I think poor Pastor. He was once again involved in many incidents but to be fair to him a lot of those weren't of his own making. However, there were still plenty that were including the Hungarian Grand Prix where he managed to achieve three penalties of some description. The thing with Maldonado is he's extremely fast, but he can't seem to harness that speed consistently. He's been in the sport long enough now that he should have learn't from his mistakes, that he still does occupy a seat it seems is down to his Venezuelan friends still funding him. He still had a few decent results but ultimately he was thrashed by his team mate and made to look ordinary.  


17. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber-Ferrari)


I thought Ericsson was extremely lucky to secure a drive with Sauber for 2015 after a dismal debut campaign with Caterham. Having money does help to keep doors open though. To be fair to Ericsson, despite not exactly setting the track alight with virtuoso performance he was unlucky and deserved some better results. He had a good run of points finishes and in general matched his rookie team mate. Needs to start delivering at a higher standard if he's to progress any further in Formula 1.

16. Felipe Nasr (Sauber-Ferrari)

Started brilliantly in his first race at the Australian Grand Prix to secure what would be his best result of the season with fifth. After that, lack of development with his Sauber car somewhat hindered him, but also mistakes and some flat performances stopped him achieving more. He still sporadically produced some good results and after a years experience can look towards 2016 optimistically.

15. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

There's no doubt that since Kimi Raikkonen returned to Ferrari at the start of 2014 he has disappointed... massively. His huge fan base can no doubt cook up various reasons as to why he has been soundly thrashed by first Fernando Alonso and then equally so by Sebastian Vettel, but there's not one that could explain his current predicament entirely. 

In a season where Kimi declared himself much happier with the car, he could only manage three podiums and out qualified his team mate just four times (two of which were because of Vettel car issues). It's simply not good enough from a former world champion. However, there were still flashes of the old Kimi, his drive in Bahrain where he nearly won was brilliant for instance. It isn't enough and I think he should consider himself lucky to still have a drive.

14. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes)


Hulkenberg should have been in a top drive years ago. In the past he has produced results in cars that weren't worthy, but this season it feels like for large parts of the campaign he's been lacking. Hulkenberg is highly rated but for whatever reason that hasn't allowed him to progress above the midfield ranks. What were the top bosses seeing that meant they didn't want to take a chance?

He still hasn't managed a podium and there have been opportunities. Force India have scored two in the last two seasons, neither of which Hulkenberg has taken. Perhaps there are doubts if he can take those opportunities when presented to him? He may have won Le Mans this year for Porsche but in F1 his team mate Sergio Perez has taken him on and shown him up. Next season he needs to mount a bit of a comeback if he is to ever join the fight at the front and not be the forgotten man.

13. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Honda)

He may deny it, but can anyone believe Fernando doesn't look back at his decision to leave Ferrari with some regret? What an utterly dreadful season, McLaren and Honda let each other down and they let their drivers down. Alonso's season didn't start well at all, he missed the first race of the year due to concussion from a testing accident. 

From then on there were sporadic moments of false hope and the odd surprise result like his fifth place in Hungary but there was nothing heart warming to look back on as the season ended. Alonso understandably, despite public appearances, was frustrated, a few choice radio calls demonstrated that. This is not what he rejoined McLaren for. I can't believe the situation between driver and team is all that harmonious and rumours continue to circulate he may take a sabbatical. 

Despite this Alonso rarely gives up and if there's a sniff of a decent result he'll be on it in a second, the only thing is there was rarely the scent of anything tasty and it looked like some of the time he just didn't want to be out there resulting in some lacklustre performances. If McLaren and most importantly Honda can get anywhere half decent next year then Alonso will deliver for them.

12. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso-Renault)

The young Spaniard had many on-track fights with the elder Spanish racer Alonso which showed his superb race craft. Only 20 years old when the season started he was arguably the more impressive of the Toro Rosso rookies in the opening rounds of 2015. 

Unfortunately for Sainz bad luck and multiple problems with the car and power unit cost him many better results. He did seem rather prone to mistakes but he was equally capable of fighting back from such adversity. He certainly has the speed of his more celebrated team mate Max Verstappen but possibly is not yet quite as consistent but much of that is probably because he never really got a decent run without problems intervening. 

11.  Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes)


I'd have been tempted to put Massa higher on the list if he could just have maintained his form against his team mate Valtteri Bottas. For the first half of the season the Brazilian out-qualified the Finn 6-3 and for a decent portion was either ahead or level with him on points.

In the second half of the season Massa's form waned a bit, in the last 10 races he could only beat Bottas twice in qualifying and eventually fell away from him in the points although not by much. Despite this Massa showed himself to still be extremely combative in the races and some of his starts were awesome, none more magicial than when he shot past the two Mercedes to take the lead at the British Grand Prix.  

If Williams can start building forward again rather than stagnating as they did this year then I think Massa can still look to seek a win before the end of his career.

10. Jenson Button (McLaren-Honda)


I know a lot of people will be surprised to see Button placed ahead of Alonso but I genuinely think that he gave his all this year despite being treated pretty poorly by the team as they pondered his future. That he has been given another year proves his worth to the team and shows how much of a team player he is.

He still battles hard and to my mind at least got more out of the car than Alonso did on many occasions. He kept on searching for the positives when often there wasn't any, but he continued nevertheless. His sixth place in the USA was a highlight, but that says a lot about the poor state McLaren are in.

Jenson could well be approaching his final year in Formula 1 but driving the way he is at the moment it wouldn't surprise me to see him being signed up once again, it really depends if McLaren make much progress because if they don't then I can also see him walking away too.

9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Mercedes)


I pondered on this one for a while. Valtteri Bottas is no doubt a very good driver and could well be world champion one day. I just think that if he was to be then he'd be dominating Massa a little more than he has. Massa is a very good driver but in my opinion not the driver he was back in 2009 so Bottas should be beating him more often.

I also think he seems a bit too placid when it comes to wheel to wheel combat, although his overtake on Kimi Raikkonen when a podium was at stake in Mexico was nicely aggressive. So we know he can do it, it just doesn't seem like it is always his preferred option.

He can go missing in races, I'd like to see him race his heart out for every position and not just when there's a chance of a decent result. It's perhaps indicative that Ferrari once showed interest in him but this appears to have gone quiet recently. Having said all that, he is a very good driver and will probably one day be a winner.

8. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull-Renault)


It wasn't a strong start to the year for Kvyat, but from Monaco onwards he was on his team mates pace pretty frequently and often the faster of the Red Bull's. His race in Belgium was a particular highlight as he made some impressive over takes to charge from twelfth to fourth. 

He became more confident but there was still the odd mistake, although it shouldn't be forgotten this was only his second year in Formula 1 and he is still only 21 years old.

There's no doubt he's only going to get better and although he out-scored Ricciardo this was mostly down to circumstance and slightly better reliability, but he will be a definite contender once Renault sort out their problems. Hopefully he can show more of what he can do next season.

7. Sergio Perez (Force India-Mercedes)


It's tempting to write that Perez was a revelation this season, but was he really? We've known he's good at managing the tyres to a surprise result pretty much since he came into the sport, but his reputation took a severe knock when he was at McLaren.

Since his arrival at Force India I would say he's restored if not bettered his reputation. Taking on Hulkenberg who is highly rated has done wonders for Perez as he's often out-performed him. Although he might not have the ultimate pace of his team mate he seems more at home when there are big results on offer.

He doesn't buckle under pressure and is capable of bringing the car home, in short he grasps the opportunity when it's presented. He was impressive this year.

6. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull-Renault)


This time last year Ricciardo was celebrated as the best driver of the year with his brilliant performances up against four time champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull. He truly was the man of the moment, charging through any gaps presented to him, grabbing with both hands any victory or podium chance that came his way.

He had speed, style and a brilliant consistency that would be hard to live with for any team mate. Three victories, the only non-Mercedes driver to win in 2014 was the icing on the Ricciardo cake. The Renault in the back of the Red Bull would surely be improved to allow him a proper crack at the title in 2015.

It wasn't, it was worse and the frustration at times clouded his driving. Some of the moves that before would have been sublime and pinpoint accurate now appeared desperate. So it is with all due credit that those moments were few and despite the frustrations of not being in a race winning car Ricciardo charged on. 

In fact he came close to winning twice this year, scored a couple of podiums and would have far more points if it weren't for the car or more accurately the power unit. Ricciardo re-set his targets and was still delivering. I can't wait to see him in a title challenging car.

5. Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Mercedes)

Grosjean was brilliant this year. He comprehensively thrashed his team mate Maldonado, utterly dominating him in qualifying and more often than not out racing him too. 


His podium finish in Belgium was very deserving giving the car probably more than it really warranted. He's leaving for new team Haas next year which has strong connections to Ferrari, so the potential is there for Grosjean to be moving up a level in a few years. I hope he won't be forgotten if the team struggles in its debut season.

But what you get with Grosjean is a driver who can learn from his mistakes. He's constantly developing and working to become better. He's one of the fastest out there and very consistent too. He gave Lotus a far better season than they would have had without him. Getting into the top 10 of qualifying 13 times was pretty remarkable. He was under the radar a lot of the time but when he needed to battle and race he was ready to shine, possibly his best year in the sport to date.
  
4. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso-Renault)

This kid is entertainment. Verstappen is just brilliant, he has bravery in abundance, car control which is sublime, and the skills to go wheel to wheel with the very best.

For someone who was only 17 at the start of the season he didn't seem overawed in the slightest despite the hype surrounding him as the youngest ever F1 driver. He quickly established himself as just one of the drivers, but one who often would create the entertainment as he battled away in the midfield.

There's possibly some drivers who should be above him, he did make mistakes, he did push things too far sometimes but to me it's just a young driver trying to find the limits, the very edge of the edge. His overtake on Felipe Nasr at Spa around the outside of Blanchimont at 200mph was simply breathtaking. 

He may have only raced in cars for one year before he joined Formula 1 but his place in this sport is richly deserved. I'm looking forward to seeing how he'll cope with the pressure now people know what to expect. If anything I expect him to get even better even if his Toro Rosso will be hobbled by a year old engine next season. Max has got a very bright future.

3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)


If Lewis Hamilton is the fastest driver in the sport right now, then it follows that Nico Rosberg must be spectacularly good too seeing as he is often only a slither behind and sometimes ahead.

Rosberg is a very good driver, he can dominate race weekends just as well as anyone. He's extremely fast and arguably if Lewis Hamilton wasn't his team mate he'd be a double world champion right now.

But Lewis is his team mate and he's not and the truth is he never looked like he would be a title winner this year. For the first 16 races he was beaten badly. Even as he started his run of six pole positions in the last six races, Hamilton still beat him in the first three of those. Once the title was wrapped up the pressure eased and Rosberg relaxed and he stormed the last three races to win all of them.

If only he could drive like that when the pressure of a championship is at stake. Maybe those three wins and six 2015 wins in total will give him the momentum heading into 2016. We'll see, but if Mercedes are dominant again, for the sake of the audience we need Rosberg at his best Lewis beating form then we'll have a fight. It remains to be seen whether he is capable of that throughout a year.

2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)


Vettel looked a shadow of himself during his last season at Red Bull in 2014. He struggled to adapt to the new regulations, he was being walked over by Ricciardo and he seemed disillusioned with the sport. It also didn't help that after four years of continuous success he didn't seem able to process the reality that he didn't have a car to challenge for the title.

So he left for Ferrari and what a transformation. Vettel was rejuvenated this year, he was back to his best. It seemed like he'd taken on the role of Ricciardo in 2014, as he maximised any opportunity to take on the Mercedes, beating them three times to claim his first victories since 2013.

He was inspired sometimes, Singapore produced the only non-Mercedes pole position of the year and it was probably the lap of the season, brilliantly committed. He kept himself in title contention until both he and Rosberg were defeated with three races to spare, but in the Ferrari, although much progress had been made, that was impressive.

It was great to see Vettel happy and driving how he wanted to again. He has a thirst for success that I don't think any other driver can equal at the moment and I'm sure it won't be long before he has emulated his childhood hero Michael Schumacher and taken Ferrari back to the top. 2016 has a lot of potential to be a classic title fight, Hamilton better watch out.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Quite simply untouchable. At least for the first 16 races. Perhaps it was inevitable after wrapping up the title with three races to spare that Lewis would take his foot off the gas a little bit, although you just have to listen to his radio calls to the team to realise he was still wanting to be leader of the pack.

Hamilton raised the bar this year. He obliterated his team mate Rosberg for most of the season. 12 pole positions from the first 13 races is remarkable as is taking another 10 wins in an exceptional display of speed and consistency.

Truthfully the title was never really in doubt after the first few races. Hamilton was on another level. There were occasional missteps such as in Hungary, but generally no one could get close. Even the disappointment of losing Monaco due to a team (and Lewis is included in that) cock up wasn't enough to knock him from his stride.

In previous years it might have but his mind management is improved, he simply reset and won the next race. I imagine it'll nag him a little bit that Rosberg won the last three races, but I won't be surprised to see him destroy his team mate when battle resumes in Australia next season. Reset and win is how Hamilton seems to operate.

More than anything though, I think Hamilton would like a challenge, not just from Rosberg but from another team. If Ferrari can challenge Mercedes next year, expect Hamilton to set the bar higher again as he goes wheel to wheel with Vettel. A great year from a great champion, there really wasn't an equal.



all photographs taken from autosport.com

Sunday 29 November 2015

Rosberg ends the season in style


Winner and star of the race

Where was this form at the beginning of the year? Nico Rosberg took his sixth win of the year and his third in a row. In fact it's been all Rosberg since Lewis wrapped up the championship in America.

Nico was dominant in qualifying, over a third of a second clear as he took his sixth pole position in succession. He streaked away at the start and in truth despite Lewis coming at him in the middle of the race had everything under control.

Hamilton has complained that he feels the way the car has been developed over the latter part of the season has kept him from finding that final bit of pace, but let's not take anything away from Rosberg, he has been in fine form and this is brilliant momentum to take him into the winter and will have him very hopeful for 2016.

But of course 2016 is a whole new beginning. Mercedes should still be strong but Ferrari are after them with particularly Sebastian Vettel surely a major championship challenger next year, but perhaps more importantly for Rosberg, Hamilton will have reset. It should not be forgotten he took the title this year with relative ease, clinching it with three rounds to spare. 

Hamilton has been living the high life even more since he won the title and it's got to be said that even though it might be that he's not as comfortable with the car it's also not too difficult to suggest that perhaps he's taken his eye off the game just a little since he took the big prize. 

With the season starting afresh I expect Lewis to come back stronger and more focused which is when we'll really see if Rosberg can handle another bruising title campaign. With Vettel looking like he'll be part of the fight next year it's even more important that Rosberg can start as strongly as he's finished this year otherwise he may get relegated to a support role for Lewis, something I'm sure he wouldn't enjoy at all. For now though, Rosberg will be feeling confident and that's a good feeling to have as we start the off-season.

Lewis Hamilton finished second and was again arguing with the team about strategy as he tried to get ahead of his team mate, but once again he was found lacking. I'm sure he'll come back stronger as long as he doesn't let those thoughts that Mercedes were trying to help Rosberg out in these last few races.

Kimi Raikkonen produced probably his best weekend of the year with strong qualifying and racing to finish third, while his Ferrari team mate Vettel fought from 15th on the grid to finish fourth. 

Force India's Sergio Perez was a contender for star of the race as he started fourth and finished fifth in what has been a great run of form for the Mexican. His team mate Nico Hulkenberg was way off his pace in seventh. Splitting the Force India's was Daniel Ricciardo who drove a feisty race for sixth, while Williams disappointed as they released Valtteri Bottas into Jenson Button during a pit stop earning him a penalty and a new front wing. Felipe Massa wasn't much better off as he lacked pace for only eighth. A disappointing end to 2015 for Williams.

Romain Grosjean gave a great showing after a grid penalty dropped him to 18th at the start. He rose to ninth with some great battling and a good strategy. It was his last race for Lotus as he goes to join new team Haas next year. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat claimed the last point.

The battles

Once again we relied on the midfield to provide our entertainment after what was another less than thrilling race. Carlos Sainz was the stronger Toro Rosso driver this weekend with Max Verstappen suffering a scrappy Sunday evening. Jenson Button in the McLaren enjoyed his fighting despite only finishing 13th. Fernando Alonso wanted to retire early after taking out Pastor Maldonado at the start and having to change his front wing and then getting a drive through penalty. It's not been a good year for him. Rumours continue to circulate that the Spaniard may not even drive next year if Honda and McLaren haven't seriously raised their game by the first test.

Reflection

It's been another dominant campaign for Mercedes, but unlike last year until the title was sewn up, Rosberg hasn't been able to match Hamilton for much of the season resulting in a rather uninspired title fight. However, this shouldn't take anything away from Lewis who has driven beautifully for most of the year. His qualifying speed was electric for the first two thirds of the season and when that hasn't been there, he's been aggressive off the start and put Rosberg in his place. I don't think he'll be overly concerned by Rosberg's recent run of form, Hamilton is still the champion after all. 

It's good that Ferrari have slowly begun to catch Mercedes. The scarlet cars are not quite able to match them yet, but another winter could see them make the step up to be silver beaters. Vettel will certainly be ready, he's been rejuvenated this year after struggling during his final season at Red Bull.

At the other end of the grid, the once mighty giant of Formula 1 McLaren will be hoping for something special from Honda over the winter. By all accounts the chassis wasn't too bad, but if Honda can't find the solutions they seek it'll be another tough year facing them.

Special mentions for Perez, Ricciardo and Grosjean, who I think have all delivered strong campaigns this year. Perhaps though it is Max Verstappen who could well be many peoples driver of the year just for his entertainment factor, he has produced some truly inspired driving. Many times this season he has livened up some fairly insipid races.

It's a fact that this year hasn't produced the racing at the front that everyone desires. Sometimes sport is like that though and we shouldn't have overreaction, Formula 1 is still a fine product, and as rules stay the same so competition will close up. I expect a far fiercer battle at the front next season.

Of course this year has been tormented by politics, particularly with regards to money and teams and even the sports rule makers and owners never seeming to be willing to look at the big picture. Hopefully after two teams made a complaint to the European Competition commission there will be some much needed action to put the teams and the sport on a much more even footing and we can concentrate on the racing. For too long have we had to worry about teams and circuit finances and it's time it stopped.

Already teams will be focusing on next season, there's a tyre test next week in Abu Dhabi before real testing for 2016 gets going at the beginning of February. Formula 1 never rests...

photos taken from auto-motor-und-sport.de and autosport.com

Monday 16 November 2015

Rosberg wins in Brazil as Verstappen entertains


Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Grand Prix in quite emphatic style from his fifth straight pole position. His Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton claimed he had the pace to beat Rosberg but just couldn't get close enough to pass, but in reality it looked like Rosberg had the world champion covered for the second race in a row.

Maybe if Rosberg had displayed this kind of driving earlier in the year we'd be looking forward to a title decider in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time but Hamilton has had him under the thumb for pretty much the entire season until the pressure was off when the the title was claimed two races ago in America.

It was a less than enthralling race which to be honest matches most of the races in 2015 with only a few epics to remind us how great Formula 1 can be. Once again as the battle at the front remained static it was left to the midfield to bring the entertainment and once again the driver doing most of the entertaining was Max Verstappen. 

This still only 18 year old superstar in the making was mixed up in the fight and for the umpteenth time is star of the race simply for the move he put on Sergio Perez into the Senna S, turns 1 and 2 of the lap.


With the down on power Renault power unit in the back of his Toro Rosso it was never going to be easy to pass for Verstappen or the other Red Bull affiliated cars. So when Verstappen got close enough to the Mercedes powered Force India of Perez it had to be a bit of a do or die move.

He had the DRS on the start finish straight and dived to the outside of turn one and just held it alongside Perez before hugging the kerb and the inside of turn two leaving Perez with the option of giving in or crashing. Perez wisely chose the former, Verstappen was through and went on to claim two points for ninth.

Verstappen has gotten better and better as the season has gone on, it's going to be so exciting to see him in a top car which isn't likely to be too far away.

Meanwhile at the front, Hamilton was asking to be switched to a different strategy in his attempts to get by Rosberg, but Mercedes have a policy that unless it's absolutely necessary then both drivers will run with the same strategy in the interests of fairness.

That is indeed fair enough, but for the entertainment factor there needed to be something different for one of them to provide us with a battle for the lead. Hamilton often closed the gap down, but Rosberg made no mistakes and as the tyres wore down was able to pull a gap to keep Lewis at bay.

There's meant to be a shake up in the rules for 2017 to allow the cars to stay closer to each other, therefore making overtaking easier. Unfortunately a lot of the sports commentators and even the drivers like Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are saying it looks like the direction these new rules are going to go to won't help at all. By allowing the cars pace to be dictated by the front wing and body work it means the car behinds airflow will always be spoiled by the car in front, leaving them with not enough down force to remain close.

If the the cars were given more grip by the tyres and ground effect aero was given more of a priority then this would change. Over the years I've heard this argument many times, but for whatever reason the rule makers are not listening. So even though I applaud the sport for wanting to make the cars look better, sound better and go up to six seconds a lap faster, what's the point if the racing isn't going to be any better? 

Rule changes often allow the bigger teams to increase the gap over the midfield anyway and once again we could end up with one team dominant. If the main aim is to increase competition there is an argument to leave the rules as they are as time and again it's been proven that stability in regulations closes the field up.

There's also been a lot of talk about how to make Formula 1 more competitive in general. Well first thing first is to give the teams equal money. Fine if some teams can acquire more sponsorship, I guess that's just life, but why not let the teams have an equal starting point? I hope the European Competition commission will rip up the current contracts giving some teams a hugely inequitable amount of money and see to it that all teams are paid the same.

For the good of the sport it's about time the teams stopped thinking of just themselves. In a perfect world, all the teams would be paid the same amount with the only difference being the money they get from their finishing position in the constructors championship the previous year. However, that is going to take years to sort out. For the fastest sport in the world, sorting anything out fairly is like watching a snail go from one end of the garden and back. I'm sure it's an interesting journey though.

Formula 1 has it's problems but it shouldn't be forgotten that generally speaking there also isn't too much wrong with the product, there shouldn't be knee jerk reactions just because something isn't working out for a year.

All sports have their seasons where there isn't as much competition at the top but F1 hasn't had it so bad, in 6 of the past 10 seasons the championship has gone down to the last race. There is plenty of competition, sometimes it just takes a while to come together, or as in the case this year, one driver is just simply head and shoulders above the rest which should be admired and not criticised.

However, silly ideas like reverse grids, success ballast, qualifying races and the like have no place in Formula 1. This sport is meant to be the pinnacle and artificial ways of spicing up the entertainment so directly should not be encouraged. Perhaps there could be less practice but a qualifying race isn't a good idea, it would take away from the main event.

If anything perhaps one way of helping keep competition closer is to stop the teams at the front from developing their cars for a few races so others can have a chance at catching up. For instance in a 20 race season, after the first five races, the teams at the top would be held to keep their car in that spec until the final five races and the title run in. 

Teams behind would continue to be allowed to develop but if they haven't caught up in a certain time frame then it's tough luck, they've had their chance. Of course top teams would fight against this, but if they were suddenly in a position that say McLaren find themselves in I'm sure they'd love it. It's a rough sketch, but it gives opportunities for those behind to catch up while leaving the sporting action still a sport and not WWE.

Having said all that with the the current rules generally stable for a third season, next year looks to be shaping up nicely with Ferrari and Vettel on course to give Hamilton and Mercedes a serious run for their money. Speaking of Vettel, he finish third with some good race pace not far off the Mercedes, while his team mate Kimi Raikkonen was a lonely fourth.

Valtteri Bottas in the Williams had the start of the day moving from seventh to fifth where he stayed. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth, Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull was seventh, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in the Lotuses were eighth and tenth. Maldonado managed to hit Marcus Ericsson for which he received a 5 second penalty. Both cars managed to continue so that's positive.

Felipe Massa in the other Williams was originally eighth but was disqualified when his right rear tyre was 0.1 psi above the minimum tyre pressure Pirelli allow. The tyre blanket was also 27C hotter than the 110C maximum allowed. For various reasons Williams are appealing as their independent measurements show the tyre was within the required tyre pressures. All very exciting.

McLaren disappointed again but at least Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso got to the finish. Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull started from the back after an engine penalty but could only work his way up to 12th. Speaking of Red Bull all their bluster and threats of leaving the sport have come to nothing. What a surprise when their contract to get paid more money from the commercial rights holders and holds them to the sport until 2020 also stipulates they'd have to pay about half a billion to leave. It looks like they will be back with Renault next season but with the possibility of developing the engine themselves.

Anyway, the F1 circus rolls on to Abu Dhabi now where hopefully we'll get an epic finale to take us into the winter with fond memories of what has otherwise been a less than thrilling campaign.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Sunday 1 November 2015

Rosberg wins Mexican race, Bottas takes brilliant podium


Star of the race

Valtteri Bottas took the final podium place for Williams at the Mexican Grand Prix with a fine drive from 6th on the grid. He made a good start to be battling with the Red Bulls immediately and put a simple but effective DRS assisted move on Daniil Kvyat to move into third place.
What was most impressive was his move on Kimi Raikkonen. I've often thought that Bottas backs out far too often when fighting wheel to wheel but on this occasion he kept his foot in against Kimi. The Ferrari was on worn tyres and having to defend after starting on the medium compound after a poor qualifying and a penalty. 

The Williams had just pitted and was soon chasing down Kimi. He made a move into turn 4, hanging around the outside, Kimi turned in on Bottas leaving the Ferrari out of the race with damaged rear suspension, but luckily for Bottas he survived to score his first podium since the Canadian race in June.

The Winner

Lewis Hamilton may have just been crowned world champion for a third time but it was his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg who drove a brilliant race to remind Lewis and the team he s still a force to be reckoned with... Occasionally.

Rosberg was pretty much flawless all weekend taking his fourth pole position in succession then making a perfect start and leading start to finish not counting the pit stops. Every time Hamilton made a charge, Rosberg was able to counter it with another fastest lap. There were no mistakes and he drove to the chequered flag to take probably his best win of the year.

After Hamilton's decimation of Rosberg this year, it shows Nico's character that he can still bring out a great performance when perhaps he'd just want this season to be done with. If only he could've driven like this every weekend then the title chase might have been a bit closer.

Lewis seemed a bit annoyed when Mercedes chose to pit Rosberg as a precaution and them himself. He stayed out for an extra two laps as he debated with the team why he needed to pit, he felt he could make the tyres last to the end but the team overruled him with a few terse radio messages and eventually Hamilton pitted to fall behind Rosberg once again and take the runner up spot.

Vettel had a terrible race as he suffered with what seemed like braking issues, spinning off once before later crashing and bringing out the safety car. With both Ferrari's out it was their worst race of the year by far. 

Both Red Bull's were fairly competitive in the thinner air pressure of Mexico City as it stands well above sea level. Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth and fifth with the other Williams of Felipe Massa finishing sixth.

The Force India's were strong once again, with Nico Hulkenberg getting the better strategy to beat home hero Sergio Perez, seventh and eighth respectively. Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean completed the top ten. McLaren were out of their depth in Mexico, Fernando Alonso retiring after just one lap. 

The battles


Lots of battles down the field, although the one everyone wanted was the Mercedes cars going wheel to wheel. They remained close all race but there was to be no scrapping. The Williams and Red Bull's provided plenty of close racing as did the Toro Rosso's and Force India's with Carlos Sainz particularly displaying some wild driving.

Kimi was charging well before his accident and Vettel seemed to be involved in incident and action throughout his shortened race.

Things of note
The first Mexican Grand Prix since 1992 was packed to capacity, the appetite for Formula 1 was huge in the central American country. It just goes to show that you don't always need to end up in countries where they have no motor sport tradition but their government has a blank cheque to build a track which ends up being a soulless empty shell that swiftly gets abandoned.

Red Bull and Honda are apparently in talks to finally get some engines for 2016. This story looks like it will run for a while but McLaren certainly don't want it to happen if Honda come good next season after the hell they've been through this year.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Monday 26 October 2015

Hamilton wins to take third world title


It was always inevitable wasn't it? From the season start all the way back in March when Lewis Hamilton cruised home to victory in Australia, it has never been in doubt. It's true Lewis has been in the best car, one with a very significant advantage, but it's also true he has stepped up a gear this year.

Hamilton's Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg was a worthy contender in 2014, but this time around he has been nowhere. Every step he's taken, Hamilton has taken two. He has been out-performed in almost every area and it showed in his disappointment after the race.

Beaten again, despite actually making an overtake stick against Lewis, but a later mistake less than 10 laps from the end cost him his lead and Hamilton was through and away. Once in front there was no way Hamilton was going to give it back.

Lewis has trounced his team mate and driven better than ever this year. There have been minimal mistakes, his 12 pole positions testify that he got on top of his qualifying issues of last year, he is still utterly committed in wheel to wheel racing and just blindingly fast. He has become a superstar this year, on the race track and away from it. He is a sporting hero and a very deserving world champion for a third time.


His third title equals his hero Ayrton Senna, the emotional obvious after the race as he quietly shed a few tears and composed himself before being jubilant on the podium.
In the actual race, Hamilton's drive was a bit mixed up, there were a few mistakes, a loss of pace at various points as the Mercedes failed to make its tyres work in the slippery conditions of the early laps. Hamilton was straight on it as the two Mercedes raced down to the first corner from the start.

Rosberg had been on pole but Hamilton drew alongside and then aggressively ran Nico out of road, forcing him off the track and also allowing the two Red Bull's ahead. A few virtual safety cars (VSC) and actual safety cars mixed things up but as the final restart came, it was Nico ahead of Lewis with 10 laps left. Hamilton set a fastest lap, Rosberg made a mistake, ran wide and Lewis was through. 

It wasn't his best drive, but it clinched him the world championship, and overall he has been supreme all year. 

Star of the race

Lewis Hamilton took his inevitable third championship with a win, Vettel charged up through the field to get onto the podium, Daniel Ricciardo was superb in the tricky conditions but it was Max Verstappen's drive to fourth that makes him my driver of the race.

Verstappen made barely any mistakes while everyone else slid off or clattered into others in the mixed conditions early in the race. Max kept his head though, raced hard and aggressively and eventually made his tyre strategy work. This guy is going to be a world champion sooner rather than later.

The Battles

There were so many incidents in the American Grand Prix over the whole weekend. Texas was feeling some of the effects from Hurricane Patricia resulting in second practice being washed out, qualifying delayed until Sunday morning and then that abandoned early. Still, a grid did line up for the race in still slippery conditions, but on a drying track when it would be crucial to change to slick tyres at the right moment.


As you would expect there were some fantastic battles in such inclement weather. The Ferrari's made some great charges after having taken 10 place grid penalties. Both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were soon battling in the top 10 with the Toro Rosso's and Force India's, of those Carlos Sainz was driving brilliantly as he stormed up the field after starting 20th and last. He ended up in 7th after a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane dropped him a place.

Raikkonen crashed and eventually retired while Vettel looked at one point he might end up winning but finished in third. Sergio Perez took another impressive result with 5th while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg made a clumsy move on Ricciardo which took him out of the race.

There were battles all over the place, as the McLaren's enjoyed a more competitive showing with Jenson Button being able to race and fight, ending up a fine 6th. When the track was still wet the Red Bull's came on strong and Daniel Ricciardo stormed past Hamilton actually leading the race by more than six seconds at one point, so to later slip down the field as the track dried and ending up with a disappointing 10th is little reward for such a hard charging drive. His team mate Daniil Kvyat crashed after he too had been challenging for the lead early in the race.

The Williams cars suffered a terrible race with both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa retiring. Pastor Maldonado drove a solid race to take 8th after his Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean suffered problems and retired. Felipe Nasr in the Sauber took 9th. 

Things of note

Red Bull are still searching for an engine, with rumours of a Honda deal reportedly being blocked by McLaren. I still expect them to be on the grid next year.

Lotus have signed 2014 GP2 champion and their current reserve driver to partner Maldonado at what will hopefully be the Renault works team next season, once that deal is signed, which is taking its time.

The Title chase

Let's face it, I've been saying it all year, there never really has been a title fight. It's been Hamilton all the way, in control, devastatingly fast, no one has been able to live with his Mercedes partnership, least of all his team mate.

Hamilton has dominated Rosberg, so much so it's not even his team mate who lies second in the standings. Lewis gained so much confidence from his second title, what will a third title do to him? The other drivers have a lot to fear.

all photos taken from autosport.com