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
Star of the race
Sergio Perez deserved a little luck as he claimed his and Force India's first podium at the Russian Grand Prix since Bahrain last year. It was a fantastic drive of which Perez has become quite renowned, converting an unconventional strategy into a brilliant result.
The Mexican was one of the drivers to pit under the second safety car which had come out to remove the wreckage of Romain Grosjean's Lotus following a rather dramatic accident. The top eight or so cars stayed out while Perez dived in for fresh rubber after running as high as sixth.
With well over half the race to go he settled down to make his tyres last the distance. As the front runners pitted, Perez moved up the order. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was on a similar strategy but neither could hold off a charging Sebastian Vettel.
However, the battling Finn's of Williams' Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen proved easier to keep behind as they squabbled for position. Eventually they found their way past Ricciardo and started to harry Perez, but this was a podium position, Perez wasn't just going to move over. Ricciardo retired later with a suspension issue.
Perez kept them behind but a lap from the end Williams told Bottas to turn everything up on the engine, he went for a gap and pushed Perez wide, Kimi immediately followed through and was on the Williams' tail. There was nothing he could do, the tyres were finished.
Into the last lap Perez watched as the Williams and Ferrari pulled away, but Kimi was challenging. An improbable closing gap became so tempting, the Ferrari went for it, and smashed into the side of Bottas, pushing the Williams out and damaging the red car. Kimi would limp home 5th but was later penalised with a 30 second penalty dropping him to eighth.
Perez was back into third place, disappointment turned to joy once more, Force India were delighted. It was another demonstration of Perez maximising an unexpected opportunity. He's really shone this year, despite the continual hype around his team mate Nico Hulkenberg who spun out at the first corner and collected Marcus Ericsson's Sauber to force both into retirement bringing out the first safety car.
As I've written before Perez's performances have made people question just how good Hulkenberg is, but I find that unfair, Perez is a very good driver in his own right and both deserve a crack at a winning car one day.
The winner
Lewis Hamilton lost out to pole position to his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg who was on it all weekend in Sochi. At the start, Lewis got alongside Nico but had to settle for second before the first corner accident brought out the first safety car.
It looked like finally we were going to have a great tussle for victory between the Mercedes drivers, but sadly for the race Rosberg retired shortly after the restart due to a throttle problem. It left Hamilton away and clear never to be troubled again as he put on a demonstration run to the chequered flag.
His win and Kimi's demotion meant Mercedes clinched their second consecutive constructors championship with four races still to run.
The battles
The Ferrari's battling was quite nice but Vettel managed to get by Kimi fairly easily in the end. Bottas started well but was taken over by Vettel during the pit stops. While the lead Ferrari took second to keep his title hopes dimly lit, Bottas was embroiled in a great fight with Kimi which as I've said, ended in Bottas exclaiming 'What the **** was he doing?'
The Toro Rosso's were once again a source of entertainment as they came back from various problems. Max Verstappen suffered a puncture after getting caught up in the Hulkenberg incident and fought back but could only manage 11th which became 10th after a penalty to Fernando Alonso for exceeding track limits. His team mate Carlos Sainz put in a heroic drive despite failing to finish because of brake problems.
He started last on the grid after a huge 46g impact in third practice sent him to hospital resulting in him missing qualifying. He was ok to race though and stormed through to be running as high as seventh before his brakes hurt enough.
The McLaren's of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso finished 9th and 10th (which became 11th) after the high number of retirements, they were still lacking top end speed and it was painfully noticeable. When the recovering Felipe Massa in the Williams came up to the back of Alonso, the team radioed to tell him he was racing Massa to which he replied 'you have a good sense of humour'. After the season he's had, to lose a point sums his season up as he celebrated his 250th Grand Prix.
Felipe Massa had a terrible qualifying to only line up 15th while Bottas was third. Massa mounted a comeback, going for a long first stint on soft tyres before switching to the super soft rubber and charging through, taking advantage of his team mates demise to end up a fine fourth. Behind him Russian home hero Daniil Kvyat was involved in some good dicing, Felipe Nasr rose up from 13th on the grid to a great 6th place and Pastor Maldonado had an uncharacteristically quiet drive to 7th, all finishing positions one up thanks to Kimi's penalty.
Things of note
The European Union Competitions commission has been notified of two complaints from Sauber and Force India regarding Formula 1's governance and inequitable distribution of funds to the teams. I truly hope something comes of this as the way money is distributed and the way the sport is run in general is completely unfair to the small teams in particular, not to mention the circuits as well.
Formula 1 and the teams need to think of the greater good now, the sport, and not just themselves. It needs someone to step in with a clean sheet of paper and start again with a new model and get rid of this money grabbing attitude from CVC, the private equity firm that owns the sports commercial rights.
CVC need to go, they have sucked everything they can from the sport and have left it hanging on the edge with viewing figures down, therefore sponsors payments are decreasing and teams are struggling and traditional circuits are being squeezed out for government backed new ones which have no tradition and no audience just for an extra dollar.
Of course the TV figures lead people to believe the sport is struggling as a product, but when you sell the rights to pay TV broadcasters, what do you expect? It's short term monetary gain but the actual viewer base is diminished and therefore sponsors get less exposure.
The product is fine, and nothing too bad that a few small tweaks wouldn't cure. An overhaul of the weekend format is pointless, there's nothing wrong with it. Having qualifying races or reverse grids sound exciting, but it's then less of a sport and more of an entertainment product, it loses it's worth as a sport.
You can't always have last race title deciders, sometimes a team and driver will just be a step ahead and there's nothing wrong with that, it's sport, it's up to the other teams to do better and try and beat the best. What would help with that of course is a more even distribution of funds that would allow 11 teams to compete on a more even keel. With $1.8billion income you'd think that would be easy wouldn't you? Hopefully the EU Competition commission will act, but even if they do it could be years before anything comes of it.
In other news, Button has agreed to race on for McLaren, citing miscommunication with the team for why he was contemplating retirement. It's good for Button but it does leave McLaren juniors Kevin Magnussen and new GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne with nowhere to go. Both are exciting talents and deserve a seat somewhere. Hopefully something will be found, maybe even at McLaren as you get the sense that Alonso is getting increasingly fed up, although he probably will stay.
Red Bull look like they are going to have to beg Renault's forgiveness as Ferrari look to have rejected a deal to supply them with power units for 2016. After all the acrimony between Red Bull and Renault it's going to be a hard sell, but the sport can't afford to just let two teams disappear. I'm sure something will happen. Meanwhile Renault have still yet to seal the deal on taking over Lotus. And Finally, Pirelli will remain as the sports sole tyre supplier as they fend off Michelin to win the next three year contract starting in 2017.
The title chase
Hamilton needs to score 11 points more than Vettel and 2 more than Rosberg at the next race in the USA to wrap up his third world championship. He's taken two wins there in the past three years so odds are on the pretence of a title fight will finally be over. Hamilton has dominated pretty much from the first race and this title will be nothing more than he deserves.
Rosberg has fallen short all year, yes his retirement in Russia has hurt him, but even then he hasn't been in the hunt for some time. The fact Vettel is now ahead of him in a car which although much improved over 2014 is not a match for a Mercedes shows he hasn't been able match Hamilton at all this year. It also demonstrates just how well Vettel has returned to form after his struggles last season.
It's too early to declare it completely over, but I'm pretty sure the championship trophy is sitting there waiting for the engraver to start cutting Hamilton's name once again.
all photos taken from auto-motor-und-sport.de
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
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.
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.
