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

Alonso still giving everything as Hamilton returns to form in Japan

Star of the race

In 2012 Fernando Alonso put together one of the most near perfect title campaigns in recent memory in a Ferrari that was decidedly second best. Sometimes even third best. The only thing that took the gloss off that year was that he failed to win the title but oh how he battled to the very end.

A few years on and with Ferrari having consistently failed to build the great Spaniard a car capable of winning the title Alonso moved to McLaren, a team which has fallen from such great heights but with Honda was surely going to reach the summit sooner rather than later...

This season was always going to be a struggle for the McLaren Honda combo, but did anyone expect them to fail to deliver so, well to quote Alonso, so embarrassingly? In a way it's been written in the recent history of the sport. McLaren have been plagued consistently by in-consistence. They've not been a dominant package for nearly 20 years, their race day management has often been middling, their pit stops not to envy and their cars have been very much hit and miss and when they've hit they've often then missed.

It's not an enviable track record. But the romance of McLaren Honda, looking back on their four years of domination from 1988 to 1991, driven by the late great Ayrton Senna, the childhood hero of most of the today's grid, oh to be the driver to recreate that glory. Alonso took that chance, to resurrect this fallen team and place it back at the top, to reach that summit and be victorious once more.

How easy it is to shatter dreams. McLaren have been nowhere, Alonso isn't wrong to say it's embarrassing, Honda have come into the sport woefully under prepared and the chassis although better, wouldn't compete with the best, at least not yet. And there, there is the uncertainty that surrounds McLaren Honda.

It could all get better next year, but Honda are so far behind it's surely going to take longer than that. And it's not just Honda, the team are demotivated, they haven't had a title sponsor for years now and don't appear near signing one leaving a budget shortfall for 2016. How long before they fall even further? But this is McLaren and Honda, of course they'll succeed...

They have the ingredients for winning, but how long will it take? With Jenson Button already contemplating retirement over another year of pain how long was it going to take Alonso to ponder on the same thing? The rumours surfaced in Japan that perhaps both drivers, despite contracts, would take early retirement. After all, Button and Alonso are both former champions, they're not in the early years of their careers anymore, they're here to win not battle for 14th with little light on the horizon.

Team Chairman Ron Dennis believes that both his drivers will be at the team next season, but they're going to have to improve a lot to keep Alonso in particular much longer. The fact Dennis has said he will speak to his driver about his radio comments which included saying his engine was like one from GP2 while the Honda top brass were in attendance is likely to cause a rift with a driver as volatile as Alonso can be. 

His eyes are wondering, he's thinking of other things, perhaps a go at Le Mans. Is his will to gain his much longed for third title still as strong as it comes up to 10 years since he last won the biggest prize in motor sport? How much longer can he watch on as his main rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton keep on racking up the wins? He must be thinking it should be him. 

Alonso isn't blameless, he's created a reputation as being difficult and not the best of team players, he's made several decisions which have left him in an uncompetitive environment. But he still gives his all.

In Japan, Alonso battled hard keeping behind cars and drivers he should be beating with ease for as long as he could. That he finished 11th despite his frustrations boiling over, that he keeps on giving his most shows that he hasn't given up and he will win again, whether that's in Formula 1 though remains to be seen. But in my mind, after everything this year has thrown at him, that he hasn't just thrown in the towel and still pushes as hard as he does makes him my star of the race.

The Winner

So was the atrocious last race in Singapore just a blip in Mercedes otherwise dominant 2015 campaign? Yes, yes it was. Lewis Hamilton was back on top form this weekend. He lost out on pole position to his team mate Nico Rosberg after a huge crash for Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull lost Lewis his second run at the top slot.

It didn't matter though as he executed the start perfectly. Drawing alongside Rosberg, Lewis had the inside line for turn one, Rosberg tried to hang on around the outside but Hamilton hung him out to dry, leaving him no room and taking the racing line, Rosberg ran out of road and dropped to fourth behind Vettel's Ferrari and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Lewis was away and clear, Mercedes were back in a big way. He was dominant throughout, setting a fastest lap a clear second quicker than anyone else. Eventually he won by over 18 seconds to extend his title lead to 48 points.

Rosberg still holds second place in the championship but more and more he looks like a man who knows the game is up, perhaps for as long as he remains Lewis' team mate at Mercedes. Rosberg is a capable driver but as I've said before, it's like Webber with Vettel at Red Bull. Once beaten, always beaten. His words are meaningless, the fight he keeps talking about is simply not there. Not this year.

He put on a good battle today though, passing Bottas into the final chicane and getting ahead of Vettel in the second round of pit stops to take the runner up spot. Vettel's heroics of last weekend weren't to be repeated as he took third. Kimi Raikkonen took fourth after undercutting Bottas, the Williams driver taking fifth. 

The battles

Behind the top five there were plenty of other midfield scraps that caused interest, most with a McLaren heading a line of cars waiting to pass involving Red Bulls and Saubers with the Toro Rosso's playing a part before they got ahead for good. Max Verstappen running his car to the edge as always came from 17th on the grid to finish ninth, one place ahead of his team mate Carlos Sainz. It was another good drive from Max despite a grid penalty for causing a blockage during Q2 when his car failed.

Nico Hulkenberg could have been star of the race after charging up from 13th to finish sixth. He had an impressive first lap to be eighth before jumping the two Lotus cars during the first pit stops. Both Lotus' were in good shape with Romain Grosjean once again leading the charge while Pastor Maldonado had a solid outing as they came home seventh and eighth respectively.

The Red Bull's had a torrid time with Daniil Kvyat starting from the back after his qualifying crash, he made some progress but after various problems could only finish 13th. Daniel Ricciardo was 15th after a clash at the start with the Williams of Felipe Massa left both with a puncture on the opening lap. This incident also helped push Sergio Perez in the Force India out wide too to leave him just 12th. 

Alexander Rossi beat Will Stevens again in the Manor Marussia battle at the back. A spin from Stevens proved decisive, but at least in race mode Rossi looks like he has a lot of potential while Stevens hopes of remaining on the grid next year have taken a dive.

Things of note

Red Bull are still struggling to find an engine for 2016. With their partnership with Renault almost certainly done and Mercedes having rejected a deal it looks like their only option is with Ferrari. However, Ferrari are not keen on supplying Red Bull with the latest specification of engine, they would prefer to supply a year old one, something Red Bull find unacceptable as they look to challenge for the title once again.


And that's the thing that put Mercedes off supplying them. Despite suffering their worst season since 2008, Red Bull still have one of the best chassis around, it's only their power unit that's holding them back. What Mercedes and now Ferrari are worried about is if they supply them with a power unit, they'll beat them with their own product. It's understandable why both are worried about the consequences of supplying Red Bull, but you hope for the good of the sport this is something that is resolved quickly otherwise we could find four cars missing from the grid next year.

Let's not even get started on Lotus, although I feel compelled too. With administration looming if they don't meet a court order on Monday (28th September) then it could possibly be six cars down next season. Renault are still in talks to buy the team and it is to be hoped the deal is completed as soon as possible. 

It's readily known that these power units are complicated pieces of kit, so it seems odd that engine deals are still going on so late in the day when the design process for 2016 must be well on the way. To just slot a different engine in is not the work of a moment. Maybe a very long moment. But with Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus as well as potentially Manor all changing their power units next season I expect testing to be fairly fraught for all.

Romain Grosjean is expected to be announced as the lead driver the new Haas F1 team, which joins the grid next season. With links to Ferrari, Grosjean is hoping to use this seat as a way of getting into the Ferrari team should Kimi Raikkonen retire as expected in 2016.

The title chase

Vettel lies 59 points behind Hamilton with five races to go. Yes Rosberg is a bit closer but if Vettel somehow gets on a charge Mercedes will only put their full support behind Lewis, including Rosberg. 

Hamilton is control, unless he loses control, then I should think he's already clearing a space in his trophy cabinet. 


Result:

1. Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Rosberg - Mercedes
3. Vettel - Ferrari
4. Raikkonen - Ferrari
5. Bottas - Williams
6. Hulkenberg - Force India
7. Grosjean - Lotus
8. Maldonado - Lotus
9. Verstappen - Toro Rosso
10. Sainz - Toro Rosso
11. Alonso - McLaren
12. Perez - Force India
13. Kvyat - Red Bull
14. Ericsson - Sauber
15. Ricciardo - Red Bull
16. Button - McLaren
17. Massa - Williams
18. Rossi - Marussia
19. Stevens - Marussia
20. Nasr - Sauber

all photos taken from autosport.com

Hamilton triumphs in British thriller

What a race! After the constant criticism of Formula 1 this year it was fantastic to finally see what the sport is all about for the first time this year, proper racing. That I had got my ticket around this time last year to be track side on the national straight made it even better.

There's always a huge sense of anticipation and tension as the race approaches. When you attend a race at Silverstone it's likely you've got up at stupid o'clock in the morning to avoid the traffic, I was at the track by 6am and took a walk around the circuit as Silverstone quickly filled up with a sell out attendance of 140,000 . People say the popularity of F1 is in decline but it was difficult to feel that when surrounded by so many enthusiastic fans of the sport, many of whom would have been queueing overnight to secure the best spots in the general admission areas.

Once settled in my grandstand seat the support races were entertaining enough, GP3 and GP2 showcasing some of the talents that will grace motor racings main event one day. But it's always all about the Grand Prix. After some air displays the pit lane opens at 12.30pm for the F1 cars to come out on to the track before they line up on the grid.

The cars may not be as loud as they once were, but when an F1 car comes into view you're left in little doubt you're seeing the best racing machines in the world. They're still loud enough and that pleasing whine of the turbo and the energy recovery systems give them a futuristic edge.

When Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes came round for the first time there was an explosion of noise from the crowd; cheering, claxons, applauding. Mexican waves went around the grandstands as the start of the race came nearer. At 1pm the final parade lap began. Where I was seated we watched the big screen until they came into view only a minute away from the start, the cars darting from side to side, accelerating and braking harshly, anything to get the tyres and brakes up to temperature ready for the race.

Once past us, all eyes turned to the screens again as they lined up on the grid, home grown hero Hamilton on pole position, his team mate Nico Rosberg alongside on the front row, the two championship contenders with just 10 points between them were ready to do battle once again.

One by one the red lights came on, engine notes rose, lights out, clutches dropped, the stands go mad, they're off. Groans from the partisan crowd, Hamilton hasn't got a good start, The Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas have launched between both the dominant Mercedes to lead.

There were cheers as Hamilton immediately strikes back into turn three and takes second from Bottas, he's chasing down Massa immediately. Looking at the screens there's an accident behind involving both Lotus cars, Jenson Button's McLaren comes to a halt too, more groaning from the crowd. 

Nevermind that now, Massa charges into view, head down, what an opportunity for the Williams team as they lead for the first time this year. What an opportunity for Mercedes to have a race with someone other than themselves. What a race to be at.

1-2-3-4 Massa, Hamilton, Bottas and Rosberg flash past me, with the rest of the field behind still coping with the opening lap madness. Then someone points at the screen, safety car is out, the field slows, anyone with a camera readies themselves for the next lap, safety car time is always a good photo op to get the cars at a lower speed although

It only lasts for a few laps before the guttural roar of the turbo engines are released once more. Massa slides a little on the restart, Hamilton's on him, the fans urge the #44 Mercedes to attack. Hamilton charges but locks up, runs wide and allows Bottas back through. Cue more disappointment from the majority of the crowd. It's not over though, it's a 52 lap race and we're only on lap 4.

For the next 21 laps the Williams cars hold off the Mercedes', all four of them looking for opportunities to pass. Bottas looks to be the quicker Williams, but he's unable to make a move stick, despite repeated efforts. Hamilton is having the occasional go, but as they zip in front of me once again it's beginning to look like if the Williams team play their hand well, they could cause the biggest upset we've seen in years.

Behind the top four the Ferrari's of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel are trapped behind the fast starting Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who jumped to fifth, Kimi is chasing him, but he's got the impressive Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat charging hard behind him while Vettel has fallen to ninth, passed by the other Force India of Sergio Perez.

As the race unfolds before me, I briefly wonder why as the lights went out so many fans were disappointed in the start. They may want Lewis to win, but instead of cruising to an undramatic win as most races have seen this year, surely it's better to see him fight for victory? And at the present time an unpredictable race is just the ticket for Formula 1. 

Then the game changer arrives, Massa, Bottas and Rosberg, straight past. Hamilton isn't there, he's pitted. Eyes on the screens now, Hamilton's out ahead of the fifth placed Hulkenberg, only just. He's back in view now, the crowd roars, a huge round of applause reverberates around the grandstand, around the whole circuit as soon as he's in view cajoling him along. The Mercedes is charging. This is his opportunity on fresh rubber, maximum grip, take it to the edge, push push push.

Massa and Rosberg come in on the next lap discarding their old tyres for new boots, but it's not enough. Williams reacted to Mercedes rather than show initiative, Massa emerges from the pits, Hamilton's through into the lead, there is such a gleeful noise as the crowd erupts once again.

Bottas pits a further lap later coming out in third, crucially ahead of Rosberg. As the laps go by Hamilton extends the gap as Rosberg lies behind in fourth, trapped behind the Williams. Behind the top four the Ferrari's with Kimi ahead of Vettel are now fifth and sixth. There's still plenty going on down the field, the drivers chasing to get the best from their day.

It's beginning to look like a Hamilton win, but you can never be entirely sure, especially when it's becoming increasingly noticeable that skies are darkening and the temperature is dropping. I feel a few drops of rain. With around just under 20 laps to go, the clouds break, coats go on and the rain falls in fits and bursts, the cars are sliding.

It's one of the most impressive things to see a 900bhp car slipping and twitching, always looking to break away into a beautiful pirouette while in the cockpit the driver is all over the place on the steering wheel trying to maintain forward motion, feet so delicate on the throttle and brake.

There is an audible gasp and then an ahh as a Ferrari tries to break free from it's drivers control. It's collected up but immediately bucks again, a quick correction and it's under control for now. The track glistens more as the rain falls and the sun shines, the inevitable oxymoron of a British summer. It's time for Rosberg to make his moves though. If he wants to keep Hamilton in sight in the championship he can't sit back in fourth and everyone knows Williams aren't great in the wet.

Rosberg is on the back of Bottas as they slide past in front of me. I look down towards copse corner and see Bottas twitch, its enough for Nico to charge ahead. He's soon passing Massa as well and as the rain comes down even more he's catching Hamilton quickly. Lap 42 he's nearly onto his team mate. With the rain getting lighter and few having changed to intermediate tyres, it's now that Hamilton curiously decides to pit, around the circuit breath is being inhaled. Has Lewis just thrown this race away?

Rosberg is in the lead, but it's now pouring, Rosberg pits to get on the right rubber, Hamilton leads once more. Everyone exhale. Rooster tales of spray are ejected behind the cars, Vettel and Alonso have been particularly impressive during the H2O dilemma, with the Ferrari now third ahead of both Williams cars and Alonso hauling the recalcitrant McLaren into 10th and a point.

Onto the last lap, there are smiles beaming, so many cheering as Lewis rounds the final turn to win the best race of the season. Soon after the gates to the circuit are opened and thousands stream on to the track eager to walk the tarmac.

I do another lap of the circuit and just as I reach the pit straight Hamilton is on the pit fence looking over the crowd and taking in the adoration. It was a great day at Silverstone and a great day for Formula 1 as a sport.

There are still plenty of things wrong with F1 but it's more the monetary side than anything. Yes perhaps it would be good to make the cars even faster, but there should be not unnecessary messing around with the weekend format or anything else gimmicky. 

The British Grand Prix showed there is still enthusiasm for the sport and the fastest driving in the world; when it's at its best it puts on some of the best sporting entertainment around. 

Of course as I idly thought about the state of Formula 1 while I left the pit straight and the hoards of fans congregated there I suddenly remembered I still had a lot of driving to do myself, and leaving Silverstone I knew it was going to an awful lot slower as 140,000 others did the same. 

all photographs taken by Paul English

Rosberg steps up in Austria

Star of the race and winner:

Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Grand Prix for Mercedes, beating his team mate Lewis Hamilton with what was quite a dominating performance. He was the quicker silver arrows driver all weekend, only losing out on pole position because of a storming lap by Hamilton.

Nico quickly rectified this with a fantastic start that catapulted him into the lead by turn one. Lewis launched a response immediately, he challenged down the outside into turn two and three but Rosberg placed his car well, expertly defending his lead. 

From then on he held Lewis at arms length, there was to be no real challenge from the championship leader and as Rosberg reeled off the laps Lewis fell back especially after he was issued with a five second penalty for crossing the pit lane exit line. Nico complained of a vibration towards the end of the race but his team urged caution and he crossed the line with plenty in hand.

It was his most convincing display to date and gives renewed hope that we can see a proper championship fight. Nico now lies only 10 points back, but with Silverstone next up, Lewis will be hoping home advantage gets him quickly back to winning ways. It's still too early to tell if Rosberg can consistently challenge but three wins from the last four races isn't a bad way to go.

The battles

Plenty of battles to get excited about, Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen was a particular highlight. Max came under further accusation of being too aggressive, but the stewards deemed all was fair so there's nothing to complain about.

Formula 1 needs drivers who are not afraid to take it to the edge and Verstappen is certainly one of those. Eventually Pastor got through after a massive tank slapper nearly sent him into the wall, but he held it and Verstappen went off, helping the Lotus claim seventh with Verstappen demoted to eighth where they finished.

The other Lotus driver Romain Grosjean had a terrific four corner wheel to wheel battle with Felipe Nasr, brilliantly executed. Daniel Ricciardo got in on the action towards the end of the race too, but his Red Bull was atrocious all weekend and he could only manage 10th at the finish.

Valtteri Bottas' Williams also made some good moves albeit mostly DRS assisted, Nico Hulkenberg being his victim twice as they both mixed it up with cars on different strategies. Le Mans 24 hours winner Hulkenberg was outstanding all weekend, hyped by his first win since GP2 in 2009. However, he couldn't hold onto his fifth starting position finishing up sixth behind Bottas. His team mate Sergio Perez finished up ninth after not being able to match his team mate at all.

Things of note

Felipe Massa picked up where Bottas left off in Canada by knicking a podium off Ferrari, this time Sebastian Vettel being held up by a dodgy pit stop. Vettel came back at the Williams driver but couldn't get on terms with him. Ferrari had looked quick all weekend up until qualifying, and in the race just could sustain the pace of the Mercedes.

Kimi Raikkonen started down the grid after Ferrari failed to tell him the session was about to end. He made a great start, but seemed to lose it as his car spun it's wheels out of turn two and clattered into Fernando Alonso's McLaren which ended up sitting on top of the Ferrari, both were out but also unharmed after a pretty shocking accident resulting in the safety car.

Again another pretty bad weekend for Kimi, he'd looked quick in practice but he can't get a clean weekend. It also just seems Ferrari flatter to deceive at the moment which is more than can be said of McLaren who couldn't flatter to deceive anything.

Another wretched weekend for the team with both drivers receiving penalty after penalty for failed bits of the power unit. Both Alonso and Button started from the back and also had to take penalties once the race started. Alonso didn't get far enough for it to matter while Button was out soon after he took his. McLaren have a good car, but Honda is just embarrassing at the moment. How can they be so woefully unprepared? To be fair of all Honda's forays into F1 since the 60s they've only been successful in one period in the late 80s and early 90s. Any other time they've been involved in the sport has ended with little or no success, so is there current situation really that surprisng?

Having said that, Renault are faced with similar problems with Red Bull being issued with many penalties too. These rules need to change as, engines should be allowed to be developed if you're too far behind and there surely has to be a better way than giving teams which are already struggling even more woe.

Which brings us on to the racing because most of this season has been full of woe. In general I don't think there's much wrong with the product F1 has to offer, but this season has been entirely uninspired so far with not a single out standing race to shout about. Perhaps there does need to be a shake up of the rules, but what would really do us some good is if the other teams could get a handle on these rules as well as Mercedes have. If they could do that then we'd be in business.

The title chase

Of course the competitive order won't matter so much if Rosberg can get on the tail of Lewis and really hound him. It remains to be seen if that will be the case, but Silverstone will let us know if Rosberg can only produce a sporadic challenge or be consistently giving him some pain.

all photos taken from autosport.com