Rosberg ends the season in style

Winner and star of the race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The battles

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

Reflection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rosberg wins Mexican race, Bottas takes brilliant podium

Star of the race

Valtteri Bottas took the final podium place for Williams at the Mexican Grand Prix with a fine drive from 6th on the grid. He made a good start to be battling with the Red Bulls immediately and put a simple but effective DRS assisted move on Daniil Kvyat to move into third place.

What was most impressive was his move on Kimi Raikkonen. I've often thought that Bottas backs out far too often when fighting wheel to wheel but on this occasion he kept his foot in against Kimi. The Ferrari was on worn tyres and having to defend after starting on the medium compound after a poor qualifying and a penalty. 

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

The Winner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The battles


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

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

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

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

all photos taken from autosport.com

Hamilton wins to take third world title

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

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

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

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


His third title equals his hero Ayrton Senna, the emotional obvious after the race as he quietly shed a few tears and composed himself before being jubilant on the podium.

In the actual race, Hamilton's drive was a bit mixed up, there were a few mistakes, a loss of pace at various points as the Mercedes failed to make its tyres work in the slippery conditions of the early laps. Hamilton was straight on it as the two Mercedes raced down to the first corner from the start.

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

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

Star of the race

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

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

The Battles

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

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

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

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

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

Things of note

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

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

The Title chase

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

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

all photos taken from autosport.com

Hamilton moves closer to the title as Perez stars

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

Grosjean storms to podium as Hamilton wins

Star of the race

Romain Grosjean was the undoubted star of the Belgian Grand Prix as he rose up the order from ninth on the grid to take the final podium place with a tremendous carefully constructed drive which demonstrated that despite the problems Lotus have had over the last 18 months he is still a driver of the top drawer and one that deserves a crack at a top team.

He qualified a brilliant fourth but was forced to take a five place grid penalty due to a gearbox problem that relegated him to ninth. A fine start ensued he was mixing it with the Red Bull's, Williams' and Ferrari's as soon as the lights went out.

He made some great DRS assisted moves along the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes, particularly on Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, always leaving them enough room but giving them no opportunity to get back at him. They were sweetly executed, he really is one of the finest overtakers currently in the sport.

After the rounds of pit stops, most going for a two stop strategy, Grosjean lay in fourth place behind Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari which was attempting to just pit the once. Vettel questioned the decision but with two laps left and the Lotus hunting him down his right rear Pirelli let go shredding itself down Kemmel, Grosjean swept past to take his first podium since 2013. 

It was a starring drive which offered the cash strapped team a well deserved fillip. Rumours go Renault are looking to buy back Lotus and make them a works team once again, although there are further stories linking Renault with Force India. Both teams are currently using the dominant Mercedes power unit so surely a switch to the rather lame Renault unit would be a step back, at least until they get it right, if they do.

For now though the team can bask in a fantastic performance, which might have been even better had Pastor Maldonado not encountered an engine problem.

The winner

World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton extended his lead to 28 points over his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg after a dominat win. This race was the first with the new start rules which forbid the teams from telling the drivers to alter the clutch settings after they leave the pit lane to go to the grid. It made little difference, although Rosberg did get a poor start which left him down in fifth.

Hamilton made a good enough start to lead into the first corner. The only slight wobble in his whole afternoon was on the first lap when he came over the top of Raidillon, getting just slightly out of shape which allowed Sergio Perez's Force India to slip stream him up the hill getting slightly ahead before having to back out.

Hamilton was away and clear and never looked back. Rosberg fought his way through and used good strategy to get into second but once again never looked like troubling his team mate. Rosberg really has sadly slipped into the role of Mark Webber against Vettel at Red Bull. Any real threat of a title battle between the two is just an illusion and one which is getting increasingly easy to see through.

Vettel was an outside bet to challenge and as he lay third in the closing laps it looked like he had plucked an unlikely result out of the air after starting just eighth. After his tyre let go he fell out of the points and now lies 67 points adrift.

Lewis is one of those drivers who if put in the best will clear up and currently he's doing just that.

The battles

There were a number of alternative stars of the race, in particular Max Verstappen who was sensational in his on track fights. His move on Felipe Nasr around the outside of Blanchimont at nearly 200mph was sensational. He was rewarded with eighth place after starting just 18th after a grid penalty.

Perez was another who starred, particularly early on, but the Force India driver couldn't hold on to a podium spot, slipping to fifth at the end of the race. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was again fighting as hard as anyone out there. Powered by Renault they were running the car with very little wing but yet he was a podium contender throwing the car round the long fast turns, but an electrical problem shut down his car taking him out of the race and causing a virtual safety car.

The Williams' of Felipe Massa started sixth and finished sixth but was involved in plenty of scraps along the way while Valtteri Bottas started third but was soon pushed down the order and suffered a drive through penalty after his team sent him out with one medium compound tyre on his right rear with the other wheels fitted with softs. Not a great afternoon as he fell to ninth. Bottas is an outstanding driver but he often seems to lose out in wheel to wheel confrontation. Both Williams cars seemed to be losing out down the straights, surely a case of the car running too much wing on a circuit that they were expected to star at.

Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull charged through at the end of the race to finish fourth which saw him go above his team mate Ricciardo in the drivers standings which after his tepid start to the season is quite the achievement.

Kimi Raikkonen ended up seventh after starting 16th, he was involved in plenty of fights but couldn't make the progress he'd have wanted. Still, he's signed up for another year at Ferrari now so hopefully his luck will change soon if he wants a final hurrah in what will surely be his final season in Formula 1.

Marcus Ericsson got Sauber back in the points with tenth after a solid drive. 

Things of note

Honda brought an upgraded engine to Belgium that was hoped would match the power output of Ferrari. It seemed to fall way short of that target in what is becoming an increasingly laughable campaign for the Japanese manufactuer and McLaren. In fact Jenson Button seemed to let off a bit of steam by calling the race embarrassing and confessing to not enjoying his Formula 1 that day. 

He was with his electrical energy through most of the race, so there was little he could do to fight after he had out qualified his team mate Fernando Alonso by over half a second with what Button described as a lap to equal his pole position in 2011.

Lotus are in further troubles with a threat to have their cars impounded due a contractual dispute with former reserve driver Charles Pic. This comes after other money issues which has meant development has been scarce this season. A reunion with Renault couldn't come soon enough to ensure their longevity but as mentioned earlier it seems a link up with Force India and Renault may scupper that too.

The title fight

Vettel's tyre letting go has almost certainly destroyed any chance of a title fight emerging this season. The German was justifiably furious at the incident, seemingly blaming Pirelli who themselves say they were surprised that Ferrari went for a one stop strategy. 

Whatever, it has taken away a threat from Hamilton who when everything runs smoothly has Rosberg firmly under control. This is Lewis' title to lose. 

Result

1. Hamilton - Mercedes

2. Rosberg - Mercedes

3. Grosjean - Lotus

4. Kvyat - Red Bull

5. Perez - Force India

6. Massa - Williams

7. Raikkonen - Ferrari

8. Verstappen - Toro Rosso

9. Bottas - Williams

10. Ericsson - Sauber

11. Nasr - Sauber

12. Vettel - Ferrari

13. Alonso - McLaren

14. Button - McLaren

15. Mehri - Marussia

16. Stevens - Marussia

R. Sainz - Toro Rosso - Power Unit

R. Ricciardo - Red Bull - Electrical

R. Maldonado - Lotus - Transmission

R. Hulkenberg - Force India - Did not start

all photos taken from autosport.com

Mercedes hand Rosberg win as Lewis loses out

Sometimes Monaco can be a classic race, sometimes it's a processional bore. In terms of the spectacle of 200mph cars navigating between the barriers of the most famous streets in racing it is quite breathtaking. Take a look at these machines going through the swimming pool section, it makes my heart jump, it's simply awe-inspiring how these drivers with millimetre precision thread their way through, jumping from kerb to barrier, just a whisker from disaster. And they do it 78 times pushing to the edge.

2015's race was in truth one of the more processional events, particularly at the front. Lewis Hamilton was serenely making his way to his fourth victory of the year and his second around Monaco. A quite brilliant pole position and a fine start followed by a great turn of speed when he needed it had taken him to a 20 second lead and just 14 laps from victory. 

Behind Max Verstappen had been all kinds of brilliant over the weekend. In the race a dodgy pit stop had dropped him out of a points paying position, but he was fighting back, using the leaders to pass people as he attached himself to their gearboxes as they lapped traffic. He came upon Romain Grosjean in the Lotus. One more pass and Max would be back in the points. Onto the start finish straight on lap 64, DRS wide open, he made a move...

Star of the race

In any other circumstances, Verstappen would have been far and away my star of the race. He livened up proceedings while everyone else stared at the back of the car in front. It was his first time racing through the barrier lined street track on the Mediterranean and he seemed immediately at home. He pushed his Toro Rosso, going second quickest in practice one, crashing in practice three, qualifying in the top 10 then running confidently in the points until a botched pit stop dropped him back. From there he charged. It's obvious he's going to be a Monaco winner at some point.

But then came lap 64, every driver will get bitten by Monaco at some point. Max had the circuit take a nibble from his rear wing during practice, but in the race, the barriers claimed the whole car. Darting around the back of Grosjean's Lotus, making a remarkable recovery back into the points, Verstappen was about to dive to the inside of turn 1 Sainte Devote, he claimed Grosjean braked early, Max had no time to clear the Louts, slamming into the back of Grosjean and then headed straight for the barriers. It was a sad end to a starring role, but it led to a safety car which destroyed Hamilton's race, the man who'd quietly been dominating the day.

Hamilton was the star. After last year's, and many other years Monaco disappointments, Hamilton was unstoppable. After losing his way on set up in qualifying he had bounced back to take pole position with two laps good enough for the top spot. If his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg thought he was about to get some momentum building for a title charge after his Spanish win, Lewis was certainly making him think again.

A fine start, a great turn of speed when needed, he was away. Then Verstappen crashed, safety car was deployed, the field would soon be closed up. Mercedes looked at the timing screens and thought Lewis had enough of a gap to pit for fresh tyres, seemingly as a precaution. This was to protect from Ferrari putting third placed Sebastian Vettel on fresh rubber and having a run on the Mercedes. But this is Monaco where passing is difficult at the best of times, surely staying out and avoiding any problems would be best?

Mercedes pitted Lewis, Rosberg in second with Vettel just behind didn't. Mercedes had also not checked the updated gaps, he didn't have enough of a gap, he wouldn't make it out in time to still be leading a race he was controlling with ease. He wouldn't even make it out second. Both his main title rivals who had nothing in answer to the pace of Lewis were now in front and there was no explanation from the team. They'd just cost their main driver the race. And Lewis knew it, third was no consolation. He was dignified in his defeat, he didn't criticise the team. He knew he was the fastest in Monaco, and he said he'll make sure he wins next time out. But this will hurt.  

The Winner

Nico Rosberg found himself winning Monaco for the third time in succession. He was lucky, very lucky, his Mercedes team had gifted him the win. To be fair he didn't put a wheel wrong during the race, but his wheels weren't as quick as his team mate's, so in reality it was pretty hollow, but he'll take it, now he's just ten points adrift on Lewis in the championship fight. 

Vettel took second for Ferrari, another one to play follow the leader. Ferrari were closer to Mercedes in the race, at least to Rosberg, but he'll know they need even more if they're going to challenge for the title. 

The battles

There were a few battles going on, but none which excited until Verstappen began his ultimately futile charge. Daniel Ricciardo made a move on Kimi Raikkonen in to Mirabeau after the restart which was rough, but the stewards deemed fair. Kimi was quite restrained when he called it rude, it left him just sixth.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso made a similar move on Nico Hulkenberg on the opening lap which left the Force India driver in the wall. He recovered to 11th, but his pace deserved more. 

Perhaps the best move was when Grosjean let Vettel through to lap him but brilliantly blocked out the charging Verstappen. There was some close running down the field, but it wasn't a passing fest, it was more these streets weren't built for two.   

Things of note

Red Bull got both their cars in the top five with Daniil Kvyat overtaking Ricciardo at the start to run fourth to the flag despite letting Ricciardo through to chase down Vettel and Hamilton on newer tyres. When that didn't work out the team instructed the order to be reversed. It was a good day after a bit of a disastrous 2015 so far.

A fine result for Force India with Sergio Perez doing better than the team thought possible with a great seventh. Jenson Button brought McLaren-Honda their first points of the year with eighth. They are getting better even though Alonso retired half way through but he was running in the points. However, I fear there may be a dip in Canada where power is a nice thing to have.

Felipe Nasr topped up Sauber's points haul with ninth while Carlos Sainz got Toro Rosso a point with 10th despite starting from the pit lane. A great drive unnoticed thanks to the exploits of Verstappen. The Williams team were a disaster here, it should be a one off as their car just didn't work in a high down force set up. Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus showed well, but was an early retirement after having out qualified Grosjean for the first time this year.

One of the big talking points this weekend were the events of an F1 strategy group meeting that had taken place in the preceding week. They came up with various ideas including bringing back refuelling which had been banned previously because of safety and expense. Apparently when half the grid are struggling to pay the bills, it's now deemed affordable. I do applaud some ideas like making the cars five to six seconds quicker by 2017, but they didn't tackle the overriding issue which is costs.

It's apparently rumoured that customer cars is the solution, which means basically the top teams will sell their chassis to lower order teams. This has happened in the past, but generally speaking Formula 1 is meant to attract the best teams who build their own cars to go racing. This is what separates it from the other racing series. It'll eventually lead to a one make formula because why would anyone buy from a team who consistently doesn't win? It's not Formula 1. F1 is a driver challenge, but it is also a technical challenge. 

I want to know that these drivers are driving the fastest cars in the world, driven to be the best because each team is competing to make the ultimate machine. When that isn't happening you might as well call it Formula one make. They were better off discussing about how to enforce a budget cap whereby they open up the rules once more and let people create whatever they like under a basic set of rules to a certain amount of money. That and getting rid of the commercial rights holder CVC who continue to try to run this great sport into the ground.  

The Title Chase

So Lewis Hamilton leads by just ten points after Monaco. I'm not going to write about how this could turn the tide in the title chase. As far as I'm concerned after his defeat in Spain, Lewis showed he isn't going to let anything side track him from dominating this campaign. He came to Monaco and went fast. Rosberg could do nothing to respond. This isn't a title battle yet, although they'll be some conspiracy theorists saying Mercedes did it deliberately. They didn't, it would've been a mistake, but this story will run. However, the main story should be how Lewis took defeat in Spain and used it to dominate the next time out. After this race he'll reset and come back stronger, don't be surprised if he crushes the opposition at the next race in Canada?

Result

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

Drivers of the year Q2

We continue our drivers of the year with 17 down to 11. To read part one click here. And like the previous post we start with a Caterham driver...

17. Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham)

It's always difficult to tell drivers relative performances because of the car, in the end you have to make assumptions and compare them to their team mates. Kobayashi destroyed Ericsson after a year away from the sport. Despite driving for free to get back on the grid, he was flat out everywhere, even after Caterham started messing him around. It could have been him to get points in Monaco until he was barged out of the way by Jules Bianchi, which damaged his car. He couldn't have done too much more.

16. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

The Ferrari was terrible this year, of that there is no doubt but surely the intra-team battle would liven it up for Ferrari? Not a bit of it, the facts are Fernando Alonso scored 161 points, Kimi just 55. He was out of sorts all year, could never get the car to his liking and suffered terrible luck when he failed to get a clean weekend for most of the year. Reliability certainly wasn't his friend. But when you see the other car half a minute up the road, then you know that the car is capable of more, Kimi was unable to extract that potential. 

He had some starring moments, he should have had a podium in Monaco, beat Fernando in Belgium and raced hard with his team mate in Brazil. But that was it. I think he was fully motivated to do well, but he's not a driver able to drive round a problem in the mould of Alonso or Hamilton. Disappointing year, but at least Fernando left otherwise he'd be sitting without a drive albeit with a whole heap of money if Ferrari had paid him off. Again.

15. Jules Bianchi (Marussia)

Bianchi looked a bit sketchy at the start of the season, Chilton looked closer on pace but he soon sorted it out and began to impress once again. Dragged the Marussia as high as it could go, often being the lead of the Marussia/Caterham battle. 

One of the best moments of the season was when he crossed the line 9th to score the teams first world championship points in Monaco, which came from one of the best passes of the season when he threw his car up the inside of Kobayashi at La Rascasse. A bit of wheel banging and he was through. A 12th place in a wet British Grand Prix qualifying was equally impressive. Then in Japan came his accident causing severe head injuries which means he currently resides unconscious in a French hospital. A Ferrari academy driver, it was rumoured he could've been in the team next season. #ForzaJules

14. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)

A driver I rated well in the top ten last season doesn't just become my 14th rated pilot because he forgets how to drive. However a car which was often one of the top two vehicles on the track in 2013 but becomes one of the worst this year helps contribute to a fall in driver performance. 

For me Grosjean will be a Grand Prix winner given the equipment, he has learnt to be fast and consistent, long gone are the days of predicting the lap Grosjean might have a crash. But the car was not there for him this year despite two fantastic eighth places in Spain and Monaco.  

His fifth place qualifying at the Catalunya track has to be one of the laps of the season. But as the season went on and he suffered yet another failure of his Renault power unit, things got to him and he started making public his frustrations. With Mercedes power next year in his Lotus, we may see him able to exploit his talent properly.

13. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)

Podium in your first race for McLaren, certainly not a bad way to start your Formula 1 career. Magnussen qualified brilliantly in Australia and took third place which became second after Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification. It was as impressive a debut as any, it looked like Button had a fight on his hands at McLaren. 

The season ended with Button out-qualifying Magnussen 10-9 and out scoring him 126-55. Magnussen was far better than those statistics make out, some of his Saturday afternoons were fantastic. However, you can't escape the fact he lost his way after the podium for several races and barely deserved a mention. But he came back fighting, his driving in Belgium and Italy, particularly his defence was extremely impressive, he suffered penalties but I think both were arguably unfair, it at least made people aware of him once again and brought a spark back to his driving. 

But still there were other times like in Japan, where he looked a little lost. Magnussen is young, quick and is only going to get better. He deserves another year but for now will have to settle for a reserve driver role at McLaren for 2015.

12. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

Vergne isn't the best qualifier but he sure is a racer. 22 points, 14 more than his Red Bull bound team mate Daniil Kvyat managed to score. But Kvyat was in his rookie campaign and still managed to out qualify him over the year and the Russian could have scored a few more points if it weren't for problems. He pretty much matched Vergne in his debut year, he's only going to get better. 

That's Vergne's problem unfortunately, he almost matched Ricciardo, he was matched by a 20 year old rookie while Vergne was in his third year. Very good, but not quite good enough? Toro Rosso is meant to bring on talent so although Vergne would have been a good bench mark for either incoming Toro Rosso drivers, Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz Jnr, he's had three years in the team, their aim is to breed drivers for Red Bull. They've not promoted him twice now, why would they do it a third time? 

It was a shame, after he thought he was being ousted by Verstappen he came alive in the last third of the season with a number of charging drives, particularly in Singapore. Vergne has got himself a seat in Formula E in that series next race in Uruguay this weekend but he's too good to not be in Formula 1 and deserves a chance with another team, however as other Toro Rosso rejects have found out, it isn't easy getting back in when you've been thrown out.

11. Sergio Perez (Force India)

I'm not sure Nico Hulkenberg thought Perez would be quite as up for the battle within Force India as he turned out to be. Perez took the teams only podium of the year in Bahrain and nearly scored another in Canada. He was still prone to the odd moment of over exuberance, but I was impressed by Perez this year. He scored in eleven races, further shaking off the tag he is just a driver for a few stand out drives while not bringing home the points in the rest. His comparison to Hulkenberg is favourable as Nico is highly rated, Perez was close and many times better over the season. The question is though, do people now think Perez is better or Hulkenberg worse?

Click on the link for the top 10 drivers of the year.
 
all photos taken from autosport.com