Let battle commence

The engines are about to roar (slightly louder) into life as the teams prepare in Melbourne for the opening round of the 2015 Formula 1 world championship. Testing, as always, has given us a vague picture of what to expect, but there has been enough to colour in some of the outlines we've been presented with.

I'd love to be sitting here about to write that this could be the most unpredictable season in years but I can tell no lies. Mercedes, like last year, are sitting at the top of the pile with if anything an increased margin of superiority despite the drivers saying the set up isn't great. Lewis Hamilton has remarked he'd like more competition from outside his own team but for now at least it's looking more likely that we're going to be seeing Lewis up against his team mate Nico Rosberg once again.

That's no bad thing, despite the sports apparent inability to promote the good things about Formula 1 such as the new power unit technology which saw the cars given faster motors using a third less fuel, or the fantastic wheel to wheel on track action we saw, last year was an epic contest between the two Mercedes team mates.

I think we can expect more of the same. Rosberg will come back stronger from his defeat. He'll have to if wants to stand a chance. He needs to lay down an early marker, particularly in wheel to wheel combat to show he's not going to be a walk over. Rosberg is a deep thinker, and he'll have analysed everything from last year to return to battle a more complete driver. Despite some circumstances which went against Lewis, Rosberg has already shown he is a match in qualifying, but the races are where the points are delivered.

If Rosberg has stepped up a level this year, then will it be enough to be champion? I'd hazard a guess and say no. Lewis is too strong a driver, too great a racer and perhaps the ultimate over taker. He will have the confidence of being champion, of having taken 11 wins in 2014 to Rosberg's mere five. Lewis will be supremely confident and he seemed to have sorted his mental fragility, particularly in the run in to the final race when he took six wins from the final seven races.

However, he has once again broken up with his on-off girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. If his mood is not positive then he can break, and Rosberg could infiltrate the positivity from 2014 and erode it with a few early victories. When the reliability problems struck Lewis in the early going last year, there were times when he seemed to be questioning if the team were treating each of their drivers fairly. That way, darkness leads. But I believe Lewis will carry on where he left off in 2014, and despite a stronger challenge from Rosberg, he'll claim a third title to match his hero Ayrton Senna. But, there's plenty to say otherwise.

Behind Mercedes comes a tight pack of Williams, Ferrari and Red Bull. Williams have the all important Mercedes power unit which has been improved. They also have Valtteri Bottas who is a likely future champion and is working methodically towards a first Grand Prix victory. Felipe Massa already has 11 of those from his time at Ferrari and on his day could well earn another one. Either one could grab a win should Mercedes falter.

Ferrari have made changes. A lot of changes. Their new chassis seems good, and the power unit has been improved greatly. The most obvious staff change is the hiring of Sebastian Vettel in place of Fernando Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen remains despite an atrocious 2014 campaign where he was soundly thrashed by Alonso. However, the new Ferrari has left Kimi smiling (which is odd), the car is much more suited to him and he should bounce back with a decent campaign. 

I think eyebrows were raised when Vettel was hired for the Scuderia despite it being known Ferrari had coveted Red Bull's prodigal son for some time. Here was a team letting go of Alonso and hiring Vettel, a driver who was in the process of being fairly beaten by Daniel Ricciardo. But all was not as it seemed for Vettel in 2014. He'd just come off the back of four consecutive seasons as world champion and was faced with a car that was not doing what he wanted it to do.

No one else had maximised the exhaust blown diffusers as well as Vettel that had been banned for 2014. It left him slightly at a loss as the back end of the car would no longer stick the way he wanted it to. The Renault power unit left a title challenge unachievable and Ricciardo had given him a hurry up that he couldn't respond to as he adapted to regulations he didn't like for a title he wouldn't win. It's little wonder his motivation waned a little.

In winter testing you could see the smile was back, he's excited by the new challenge of emulating his hero Michael Schumacher to take Ferrari back to the top. He'll be challenged by Kimi this year, but I can't see Vettel not winning this battle. He may even sneak a win given the right circumstances, but this is a rejuvenated driver, and over the coming years I expect Ferrari to get stronger, as there's not many who work as hard as Vettel to achieve success.

Red Bull are probably not feeling optimistic. Renault haven't made the strides they wanted them to, but yet another decent chassis and the promise of improvements for their power unit should see them comfortably battling for best of the rest, particularly as the season develops. They've hired Daniil Kvyat as Vettel's replacement. He's only had a year in F1 but he'll make a good impression but I don't expect him to outshine the star of 2014 Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo was brilliant last season, taking apart his four time champion team mate to the extent that even before Vettel announced his departure it already appeared to be Daniel's team. I think we can expect more of the same and despite looking like they might be slightly adrift of Williams and Ferrari at the moment it would come as no surprise to see Ricciardo being the one to force a win if Mercedes have problems, or even if they don't. I just hope the wait for Renault improvements doesn't hold him back too much but I think he'll be fighting for podiums all year long.

Toro Rosso have looked fairly rapid in testing. They have the youngest driver line up on the grid with Max Verstappen at 17 and Carlos Sainz Jnr at 20 combining to make an age which is just two years older than Jenson Button.

Verstappen is the prodigy and throughout testing he's looked calm and assured. I expect some good results from him and some outstanding performances. Sainz has looked a little wilder, but I think both will have their day in the sun with Verstappen the one who will be keeping Kvyat on his toes.

Lotus look a lot better this season. The chassis is improved and the switch to Mercedes power should give them an immediate pace injection. Romain Grosjean will deliver them the points while Pastor Maldonado should be able to deliver debris and a few starring results.

Sauber looked too quick in testing, but it did reinforce the belief that Ferrari have made significant improvements to their power unit. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson have brought significant funds to the team but both are race winners in GP2 and are capable of delivering results. The Swiss team shouldn't suffer another pointless campaign as they did last season.

Force India didn't bring their new car out until there were just two and a half days of testing left. To their credit it ran reliably pretty much throughout clocking some significant mileage. They might be lingering towards the rear of the field at first but I think they'll soon get it all sorted out and be racing for points. Sergio Perez will likely spring a couple of surprise results as is his way, while Nico Hulkenberg will once again produce a decent season worthy of a top team taking a punt on him.

However, he's signed up for a Le Mans driver with Porsche this year and I can see him joining those ranks permanently at some point. I fear a career in a top car may well have slipped past him.

Marussia, or Manor, are back on the grid. They've adjusted their 2014 car to 2015 spec with a full 2015 car due out later in the season. It's a great story to have them back on the grid bringing the total number of cars up to an acceptable 20. With no testing and running a year old engine it'll be remarkable if they actually qualify for the race, but it's great to have them back anyway. Formula 1 needs these teams. So far they have signed Will Stevens who did a decent job for Caterham in a one off race at the last race in Abu Dhabi. Roberto Mehri will fill the other seat for now.

And then we have McLaren Honda. I'm not talking about them last because I think they'll be bringing up the rear of the grid in Australia, although it is a possibility, but because there's no real place to put them. They've shown terrible reliability, the Honda isn't running smoothly, and they only just beat the total mileage of Force India despite having nine and a half days more running. Or more accurately sitting around in the garage as mechanics tried to fix the numerous issues.

Red Bull were in a terrible state this time last year and went on to take three wins. The thing is the Honda hasn't run anywhere near full power, their car has been given a Red Bull make over thanks to the acquisition of Peter Prodromou from the fizzy drinks team. They have Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as drivers. There is a lot going for this team. I believe once they're up and running properly they're either going to be terrible or potential Mercedes challengers. Significantly, despite the woes the team are said to be still quietly confident. Or maybe it's just blind optimism.

Of course it's not just on the technical front that there have been set backs. In the second test Alonso crashed leaving him with a concussion which has ruled him out of the opening race. Kevin Magnussen will step up hoping to show the team exactly why they should have kept him instead of Button.

The whole Alonso affair is steeped with conspiracy theories. It does seem odd about some of the information or lack of information that has come out about the accident, but I hope we'll see Alonso ready to go for the second round in Malaysia. Alonso is desperate to win another title and this is certainly not how he would have wanted to start his second stint at McLaren especially as Ferrari seem to have built a decent car again.

So Mercedes are out at the front, but with fairly stable regulations there's only so much more they can develop. I think the other teams will be coming for them towards the end of the season, but by then it'll be too late and we'll be celebrating a Mercedes driver as world champion. The question is which one?

all photos taken from autosport.com

Alonso to miss season opener in Australia

Fernando Alonso will miss the season opener in Australia on 15th March due to worries about second impact syndrome. A statement from McLaren reported by autosport.com says 'Fernando's doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one'.

Alonso has been allowed to return to training in preparation for the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks later on the 29th March. It's a strange situation as there has been conflicting information about the accident in winter testing after which Alonso spent three days in hospital.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis suggested Alonso hadn't got a concussion, but that is now known to be wrong. The doctors say physically he is fine and the Spaniard believes he is ready to race, however with concussion it is good to be safe.

Kevin Magnussen will replace Alonso, driving at the race where he made such an impact last season. It'll be a great opportunity for him to show up Jenson Button too, the man who was chosen ahead of him to partner Alonso this season.

Testing times

We've had two four day tests and at the time of writing all the cars had just pulled into the garage for lunch at the circuit de Catalunya, just outside of Barcelona, leaving just a day and a half to go for the teams to get it right. Two weeks tomorrow the opening round in Australia would have been and gone, we'd know who our first winner was and have our first answers as to who will be king in 2015.

Testing goes a long way to ironing out the little problems that can be so catastrophic during a race. Getting the miles on the car, understanding it, lap by lap knowing what it will do and then extracting that performance and more. Below are some photos taken from autosport.com from the first test at Jerez and the last and current test outside of Barcelona.

There's been some cold mornings, but you'd expect that for winter testing!

Mercedes leapt out of the pits early in Jerez and despite a few hiccups along the way have continued logging the miles while hovering near the top of the times despite running slower tyres.

Lotus look in better shape this year after switching to Mercedes power.

Ferrari made a spectacular start to testing in Jerez, but have since been a bit more circumspect. They've certainly made progress over the winter though.

Sauber have been relaxing at the top of the times a lot, which goes to show never trust testing times. However, they look like they'll be a bit more competitive after last years nil points campaign. A further good sign for the progress Ferrari have made with their power unit.

It's been a troubling start for the reunion of McLaren Honda. They've not got many laps on the board, and there have been many problems.

Consequently returnee Fernando Alonso has been hanging around the garage a lot. After his accident last week, he's had to skip the final test and there are even doubts he could make it to Australia. A lot of mystery seems to surround what happened.

However, progress was made yesterday at McLaren. Jenson Button managed 100 laps yesterday. I think McLaren could be dark horses for a few wins this year, their chassis is looking a lot better while the Honda has plenty of untapped potential.

Red Bull may well have slipped down the order a bit. Adrian Newey has taken a step back from design duties, although still a great influence but they haven't set the world alight over the winter. I think Ricciardo should have the measure of Kvyat too. Never rule this team out. Renault's power unit still seems out of sorts too.

The Toro Rosso is apparently a bit skittish, but Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr have logged plenty of miles as they aim to get up to speed. Their combined age is just 37, but both, Verstappen in particular look at ease in the car. Expect some action from these guys.

Williams have kept themselves to themselves, but again have managed plenty of miles and not really gone for out and out pace during testing.

Mercedes have just kept on sorting everything out but Nico Rosberg served a statement of intent when they finally stuck on some soft compound tyres and blitzed everyone with a time 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else that day.

Force India missed the first test, only had their 2014 car for the second test and then only brought out their 2015 cars at the second day of this final test. Still it seemed reliable out of the box, they just need to get as much mileage as they can.

Grosjean has been pushing the Lotus, he deserves to have a decent car to allow him to attack for podiums once again, although I think he may have to settle for points.

Kimi Raikkonen had actual enthusiasm for his new Ferrari. After a terrible year last year, this car seems far more suited to his style of driving. Watch out for a return to form from Kimi.

If anyone is going to be the Mercedes main rival this year, it looks like Williams have kept up the momentum from a great 2014 to push even harder in 2015. They've shown their hand a little over the first couple of days of the final test, I think they may grab a win this year. Whether it's Bottas or Massa is too close to call.

Don't rule out Vettel getting a win in his debut season for Ferrari. He topped the times on the opening two days in Jerez, the car seems a lot more suited to him than last years Red Bull. He also seems to have acquired renewed motivation, Ferrari look to have turned a corner.

Great news that Manor (formerly Marussia) look like they should be back on the grid for Australia. They're looking to race a modified 2014 car with a 2015 machine on the way. Good luck to them.

Meanwhile the rest have two more days to get some laps in, get reliability and most importantly the speed.

At Mercedes though, it looks effortless. It's going to take a lot to beat the Silver Arrows in 2015. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Winter testing begins

The garage doors will be opened in Jerez, Spain tomorrow (1st February) as winter testing starts in what will be the opening skirmishes of the 2015 title fight. Despite my previous rant about the state of Formula 1, which if you so desire can be read here, there is a lot to get excited about.

All the teams apart from Force India are present at the opening test. Force India are saying it's so they can have extra development time, although with their owners under investigation for money related activities in India, I really hope it's not because the team have money troubles of their own.

As anticipation builds towards the first race of the season in Australia on March 15th, here's a few things I, and I'm sure you will be excited about in the run up to the lights going out and the action starts.

I think the first thing I have to mention is Fernando Alonso's return to McLaren after their acrimonious split in 2007. Alonso is accepting he will need patience as McLaren and the returning Honda get used to each other again. But how long will that patience last? I can't wait to see how these great power houses of Formula 1 gel together. McLaren have taken a new design direction while it'll be interesting to see how Honda perform after watching the other three manufacturers for a year. Will they have learnt from others mistakes?

I'm equally looking forward to seeing how Jenson Button stacks up against his Spanish team mate this year. Button stepped up when paired with Lewis Hamilton and I've a feeling he's going to give Alonso a much tougher time than anticipated.

Will Mercedes still be the dominant force? Over the winter Renault and Ferrari successfully argued they should be allowed to develop their power units throughout the season rather than stop at the end of February. They will still only be allowed to change a certain amount but they can extend their development times as they try to catch up to the Silver Arrows squad. Of course this also means Mercedes can continue developing, and Honda have now been given the go ahead to continue working on their engine too. 

It all means it should be closer, but with such a head start for Mercedes it's going to be tough to catch the works squad which could mean it's another head to head between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton could return serene in his accomplishment of last year and go on to higher heights and dominate, or Rosberg will have learnt what he needs to do to get into Hamilton's head and take it to him in a wheel to wheel battle. That's a situation I'm looking forward to seeing.

Daniel Ricciardo returns with Red Bull, if Renault have done a halfway decent job in improving their power unit, I think he could be a dark horse for the title. I look forward to seeing how Daniil Kvyat copes with being pushed into the big time. Ricciardo handled it well, but does Kvyat have that mental strength?

Sticking with the Red Bull world, how will two rookies in Toro Rosso cope without anyone to learn off? Well Ricciardo managed, and Max Verstappen comes into the sport at only 17 years old with just one years car racing experience and a few F1 practice sessions but he is also being touted as the next big thing. Will he handle that pressure? I think he will, from interviews and how he manages himself, he's going to go at his own pace, but expect good things. Carlos Sainz Jnr has had success in junior formulae, and a lot more experience than Verstappen whilst also being three years older. If he doesn't beat him, could this be a one year adventure for the young Spaniard?

Ferrari's new car looks spectacular, although Sebastian Vettel in red takes some getting used to. Technical director James Allison says the car should suit Kimi Raikkonen a lot more than the monster that was last years Ferrari, so hopefully we'll see Kimi able to drive to a higher level than he was able to show in 2014. Whatever the situation with Kimi, whether fair or not, if Vettel doesn't thrash him like Alonso then people are going to judge his titles even less favourably especially after the beating he took from Ricciardo at Red Bull last season.

Ferrari have been in turmoil and this is a building year for the Scuderia, nevertheless, I'd like to see both drivers find their feet again in this still new Formula 1 that both struggled with last year. A change of scenery for Vettel after being with Red Bull so long will re-motivate him as he looks to build Ferrari back into a winning force.

I hope Williams build upon their brilliant 2014 and are able to challenge for wins. They've got the driver line up to really push on, and an ever improving and cohesive technical team, I believe they could be challengers this year if they are consistent.

Lotus now have the same Mercedes power unit, so it would be nice to see Romain Grosjean back up there and they're already talking of targeting Williams. Force India will want to aim for the top five especially with a driver line up of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez while Sauber will be wanting to score points after their pointless campaign in 2014.

At the time of writing both Marussia and Caterham are still looking to find ways back to the grid, but it's highly unlikely.

At this time of year there's always a lot of questions with very little answers. Testing never gives a full picture but hints will start from tomorrow.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Formula 1 needs to get its house in order

Formula 1 never sleeps. It’s only been a short few months since Lewis Hamilton won his second world championship and already the teams are preparing to commence battle once again as testing kicks off tomorrow at Jerez in Spain. The preparation started long ago, and developments will be coming thick and fast from the first test onwards.

Of course a sport that never sleeps sometimes suffers from sleep depravation which is why Formula 1 seems to make so many issues for itself. Bernie Ecclestone has been brilliant in building Formula 1 up to the global phenomenon it is today but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got some things wrong.

In fact as the 2015 machines take to the track there’s a lot of issues still raging. How can a sport which generates billions not keep 12 teams on the grid? Why are classic races being forced off the calendar making way for countries which have no hope of filling the grandstands? Why are the tickets so outrageously expensive?

The answer to most of these is money and the private equity firm CVC which Bernie sold the promotional rights to while still running the sport himself. They do little promoting though but are more than happy to suck every last penny out of the sport while seeing it go to pot.

We should’ve been rejoicing about what sensational power units were created last year, how efficient but fast they were not how quiet they were. Yes, the noise takes away a little impact live, but once the race is underway you soon forgot it and on television it doesn’t matter.

We should have been remarking how excellent the racing was, how close the wheel to wheel combat was and what a brilliant fight to the end of the championship we had. But we didn’t, we talked about the sport losing viewers, teams falling off the grid, the uneven distribution of money for the teams.

These make people question the product, but there’s nothing wrong with what’s on the race track. They need to take a look at how it’s promoted. Reach out to the fans, to the younger viewers (note to Bernie, they’re important for the future) through social media, which even now is only just beginning to be looked at by the sport properly. Also maybe if you don’t want to lose viewers, don’t sell the television rights to pay TV channels. Now there’s a thought.

This has all been created by Bernie, or if you want to go further back to 2000 by the FIA’s then president Max Mosley selling the commercial rights to Bernie for a cheaper than cheap fee and for 100 years at that. It enabled Bernie to do what he does best and make money and dividing the teams with various commercial deals that split the grid into haves and the have absolutely nothing.

There’s plenty of detail that can be gotten into, but the gist of it is that Formula 1 which has the fastest cars in the world supposedly driven by the best drivers now has less than 20 cars on the grid, many of which are driven by drivers who have to bring a tremendous amount of sponsorship to even get a seat, usurping many better drivers who simply don’t have the backing.

That’s not right for the supposed pinnacle of motor sport. Not that the teams will come together to thrash out appropriate cost reductions or the FIA will step in even though it is technically their championship. The FIA is weak while the teams mainly think only of themselves. It’s a survival of the fittest sport and none will want to give up an advantage.

I’m a huge fan of the sport, I love the idea of the best drivers, driven by such focus and desire to be the best in the world climbing into their state of the art machines and taking them to the edge. This is Formula 1 at its purest.

But it hasn’t been pure for a very long time, and there will continue to be clashes. In the end I just want to enjoy what’s on the track and as a fan I’m in mind to just ignore it and hope the problems go away and concentrate on the racing, which I think is the basic premise of most teams attitudes and particularly Bernie Ecclestone and CVC.

That’s not the way though, it’s time for a change and a fresh approach at the top of the sport, give the money to the teams, let them pick the best drivers, not the biggest wallet and open the sport to the fans and reduce costs for circuits so you don’t rip a hole in the traditions and soul of the sport. But the racing? Leave that alone, it’s great, time to start shouting positively about it as the cars hit the track.

all photos taken from autosport.com

The top 10 drivers of the year

This season has seen some fantastic racing. All the way down the grid there have been so many epic wheel to wheel battles, but not all can get to be in the top 10. Click on the links for part 1 and part 2 of my driver countdown. These are my ten best drivers of the year from a brilliant year of Formula 1.

10. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)

A very impressive rookie season from the young Russian. He had pace in abundance, two fifth places in qualifying remind me of Daniel Ricciardo's excellence on a Saturday for Toro Rosso. He may have scored 14 points fewer than his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne but he did out-qualify him overall and lost a fair few points scoring finishes through unreliability. 

However, there were a few clumsy errors and when some of the radio advice from the team was banned during races he did seem to lose his way a little, but he found his way back by the end. His drive from the back of the grid in the Italian Grand Prix to challenge for points before a brake failure was brilliant, and again in Abu Dhabi he was mixing it within the points after starting fifth, an engine problem forcing him out on that occasion. 

It looked like he would be leading Toro Rosso next year alongside Max Verstappen, but his Red Bull opportunity comes early after Sebastian Vettel's departure. It'll be tough for Kvyat, but I think he's more than up to the job and with a season of experience behind him and a top line car to drive I'm sure he'll be on the podium soon. As I wrote earlier in the year 'If Vergne could match Ricciardo, and Ricciardo can beat Vettel, then Kvyat must be awesome'.

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)

This guy should have been in a top team by now. It has been said for years, people are still saying it but perception is everything in Formula 1 and unless it happens at the end of next season then sadly, I think Hulkenberg may have missed his shot. Perhaps that's why he's branching out to Le Mans with Porsche next year. 

This season Nico was as consistently good as he ever has been, bringing the car home for decent points, but he lacked that special result that he's so easily capable of. He suffered a blip in form when he was outshone by his team mate Sergio Perez in the middle of the year, but he brought it back on track. I think Perez was a lot closer than people thought he might be, which begs the question I asked of Perez, is Perez better than people think, or Hulkenberg worse?

8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

In a way I wanted to put Vettel lower on this list, but found I couldn't. The reasons why I thought that perhaps he should be lower is that like Kimi Raikkonen, he never got to grips with these new breed of cars (lucky Ferrari) and despite moments which showed his talent was still there he still wasn't performing at his maximum come the end of the year. 

I wrote at the beginning of the year wondering if Vettel would struggle. I said he would but he'd get on top of it and be beating Ricciardo, but that didn't happen. Every time there looked to be a resurgence it was then halted. Something would go wrong with the car, or he just couldn't extract the pace that Ricciardo proved was there. It was a shame to see the sports most recent four time champion be exposed like this which is not to take anything away from Ricciardo at all. I have no doubts that if you put Vettel in the best car that is suited to him he is as fast as anyone. No one was better than him at exploiting the last generation of cars.

But unless the car is suited to him, it seems Vettel is not capable of driving round the problems like Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, or even Daniel Ricciardo and hustling a car to a result it doesn't deserve. But on the plus side we saw more than ever how good he is at wheel to wheel battle, his fight with Alonso at Silverstone was fantastic, and his drive in Singapore superb as well. What impressed me most was that he didn't throw his toys out of the pram when Ricciardo beat him, he just kept plugging away, at times he got somewhere, at others he didn't. 

Perhaps after four years of success coming into a season where he made no secret he didn't like the new Formula demotivated him. A new challenge at Ferrari is perhaps just the thing to create renewed motivation, to conquer with the scarlet cars just like his hero Michael Schumacher did before him.

7. Felipe Massa (Williams)

Massa gets caught up in too many accidents, it's a problem he's had through his career and it's followed him to Williams, admittedly most of them weren't his fault but it does ask questions. He was out qualified and scored 52 less points than his team mate Valtteri Bottas. Yet I kind of think he deserves to be higher up in this list than he is. Ultimately he was soundly beaten by Bottas which is why he's down at number seven, but this year saw a rejuvenated Massa at Williams, freed from the shackles of being Alonso's support he was able to race for himself once more. 

I'm afraid I'm one who thinks he hasn't been as good since his accident in 2009, but this year showed signs he could become a winner once more. There's plenty of evidence for this too. When both Williams' finished he actually was ahead of Bottas 8-6, he scored the teams only pole position of the year with a brilliant lap in Austria and came closest of all to scoring the team a victory when he charged down Lewis Hamilton at the finale in Abu Dhabi. 

If he can stay out of trouble next year and Williams continue their improvement, I don't see why he can't take a few wins, when he's got that scent of victory and he's running at the front, it reminds me of 2008 when he nearly, and perhaps should have won the title. Lot's more to come from Massa next year.

6.Jenson Button (McLaren)
Jenson has finally been retained for 2015 by McLaren Honda. That McLaren made him hang on for so long after what has actually been a pretty decent showing from the Briton was a bit of a slap in the face. Qualifying isn't his strong point and yet he's out qualified the highly rated Magnussen and scored far more points than him. 

Yes, there are still times when he can be a bit anonymous, or just can't get the car to work for him, but this season, perhaps more than any other, he's dragged a number of impressive results. He's made it work for him. In the last quarter of the year he scored 4 top five finishes from five races. His races at Silverstone, Japan and Brazil were outstanding results. Give him a car and he'll get you wins even now. 

I do think Magnussen deserves a drive for next season and ultimately he is the future. But I think Button as he approaches 35 has another couple of years at the top level left in him. Like when he was team mate to Lewis Hamilton, I think now he's to partner Fernando Alonso next season he will be able to match him.

5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

It is often the case that when a driver is given a better car, their performance gets better too. Bottas had shown sporadic moments of brilliance in his rookie campaign in 2013 with a difficult car, this year Williams gave him a car that allowed him to star consistently. Despite Massa's impressive year with Williams, it was Bottas, along with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who became the go to drivers if you were looking for potential challengers to the Mercedes juggernaut.

It took a while to get going, both he and the team were guilty of missing opportunities. I feel sure a win could have gone the way of Bottas or Massa in Austria after they locked out the front row. But after all that the podiums started to arrive, six in all for Bottas. He was consistent, fast, and looked like he had always been running near the front of the grid, which I thought was particularly impressive. 

He was in the top three in qualifying more than any other non works Mercedes driver. It was an impressive campaign and if the team can build on these foundations, perhaps there's a sliver of a chance at a title tilt next season? There's a lot to come from Finland's top driver.

4. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

Alonso will drag a car to the very edge and still find more performance. Once again this year he has been superb. He has crushed the challenge of Kimi Raikkonen and driven the wheels off of a Ferrari, which to be polite was a bit rubbish. Just two podiums in the year, his lowest since 2009, was a poor return on what has been another brilliant year from the Spaniard. 

Let's put it this way, the best cars were Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams. Mercedes had a second in hand, so we'll exclude then, but he was often the only driver who could mix it with the best of the rest. His season is littered with fourths, fifths and sixths, which is more than the car often deserved and if you think about it, it means he was often ahead of at least one or two cars which were better than his. 

Alonso is able to drive round problems and exploit the car as much as is humanly possible, but not even he could haul it much further than the top five yet still he nearly won in Hungary, one of the drives of the season. Ultimately this has led Ferrari and Alonso to part ways. What started as an exciting partnership with glory surely awaiting them has culminated in a winless campaign filled with behind closed doors acrimony. But whatever people say about Alonso with regards the way he acts in a team, he still was fully committed to the cause. 

There were a few off days as the strain began to tell of yet another fruitless campaign with Ferrari, but nothing that would suggest his powers are on the wane. McLaren Honda have him for next year, with an already difficult relationship, a less than successful first year could bring storm clouds. After all the effort, he deserves one last chance at a title challenge. 

3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

Rosberg had a fantastic campaign, he just keeps on defying expectations. Let's get the bad stuff out the way first. Monaco qualifying and Spa misdemeanours were heat of the moment stuff, not pre-planned at all. Besides that, it was a brilliant season built on speed and consistency. This was his first title challenge, the pressure must have been intense right from the start of winter testing, both he and Lewis Hamilton knew they had a car that was clearly the best in the field. 

Even then subtle battle lines would have been being drawn. Rosberg has never really been thought of as one of the best out there, well I think this year has proved beyond doubt he's a tough competitor. In qualifying despite some Lewis quali woes, Rosberg outshone his team mate. Lewis was meant to be the strong one over one lap and Rosberg would get him in the races as the new fuel efficient rules would suit him more. 

It wasn't to be though, but he was so nearly there. With Lewis operating at such a high level, you have to have Rosberg high up in the list too, because he was often just missing fractions. However at the end of the season when both cars had finished Hamilton beat him 10-4. He never passed his team mate, but was passed several times during the season, his wheel to wheel racing is something he has already acknowledged he'll need to work on. He is capable of dominating a weekend like in Monaco, or Brazil, even when like in the latter race, he is not the quickest out there. This years title challenging experience will be logged away, Rosberg will come back stronger in 2015.

2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

The best always operate at the highest level whether they have a bad car or good. But when the title chance comes, they can still get better. I think Hamilton was brilliant this year, but he made mistakes under pressure, particularly on a Saturday and was beaten by his team mate in qualifying. I think this season could have been easier for him, which is why I can't give him the top spot.

The pressure would have been mounting since winter testing. In Monaco after Rosberg's quali incident, it broke out into war between the pair of them and suddenly it looked like it was effecting Lewis' head. So prone to letting things get to him in the past, it began to look like a title which should have been easy for the fastest man in the sport was going to be lost. 

Between Monaco and Belgium he won just once. Several mistakes in qualifying and reliability problems meant Rosberg got an edge, and then the coming together at Spa changed everything. The team had chosen to remain quiet about Monaco, this time they backed Hamilton, finally he felt he had the team behind him, suddenly he reeled off five victories in a row. Even when there were issues, he'd reset his head and come back stronger. It was brilliant mind management which enabled him to focus on the driving. I found that very impressive, something he'd rarely display before. 

But most of all, I thought it was brilliant that he defied the expectations of the media that thought this wasn't a Formula for Lewis. He just wants to go flat out, he won't be able to save the tyres or the fuel they said. In fact he was brilliant with the Pirelli rubber and was the best at conserving fuel, almost always using less than Rosberg during the races. His passing was better than ever. As one of the best passers on the grid this was to be expected and he exploited that on Rosberg. 

Perhaps what perfectly exemplifies the difference between the two Mercedes drivers was in Hungary. Rosberg sat stuck behind Vergne for lap after lap playing the percentages. Hamilton, on the charge, gets ahead of his team mate then immediately gets in front of Vergne too. Incisiveness. Lewis knows Rosberg will learn from this season and come back stronger, however I think this title will launch Lewis to an even higher level, I'll not be surprised to be writing about him as a three time world champion this time next year.

1. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)

Revelation. What a season Ricciardo has had. He's walked into four time champion Sebastian Vettel's team and blown him away. He had the measure of him from winter testing, and when Vettel looked to be getting back on terms, he upped it another notch. I thought if the car was dodgy he'd have a chance of upsetting Vettel but ultimately the German would prevail. Not a bit of it, Ricciardo took charge of that team and it wasn't long before Vettel sometimes looked like the forgotten man. Ricciardo was even beating him at tracks that Vettel had made his own. 

His intentions were clear right from the start of the season. Even though the podium was taken away from him in Australia due to fuel flow problems, his second on the grid and second in the race was a bold statement. By Monaco he was ahead of Vettel on points and just pulled away. It became obvious that beating Vettel was secondary as an unlikely title challenge suddenly came on the cards. Although ultimately fruitless it was a measure of how consistently good he was that this was even still a possibility as the season came down to the closing stages. 

His cool smiley demeanour hides an utterly focused driver who will take any opportunity he can get and maximise it. He rarely makes a mistake, and is always on the edge but so in control, looking for a chance. It's no coincidence that the three races Mercedes didn't win this year were picked up by Ricciardo.

His victories in Canada and Belgium may have been down to Mercedes problems but he was in a position to capitalise. The one in Hungary was brilliant though, exploiting the circumstances through a safety car it was early on when he got on the radio to say they could win this. Fighting back after pitting from the lead, with just three laps to go he made a bold around the outside move on Hamilton, then a slick one down the inside on Alonso. 

Passing two of the toughest out there to take the win, it was utterly thrilling and indicative of how comfortable he was mixing it at the top of the sport. He wasn't scared of going toe to toe with anyone out there. His move on Alonso in the USA was close to the edge but brilliant opportunism. It was truly an exceptional season. This guy is the real deal, and if Red Bull can close the gap to Mercedes next year, he'll be on the championship trail.

all photos taken from autosport.com