Formula 1 Winners and losers- 2015

Surprise packages, experimental liveries, rookie sensations, beleaguered world champions, public fallouts, email dismissals, and even a hurricane - there was no shortage of storylines in F1 this year, even if the title itself was wrapped up at a canter. We run through the winners and losers from the 2015 season...

Winners

MAX VERSTAPPEN

A sensation in his rookie season, even before one considers he wasn't old enough to drive on public roads for half the season. Put another way, he had already passed Felipe Nasr around the outside of Spa's 290km/h Blanchimont left-hander - arguably the overtake of the year - by the time he convinced an examiner he was fit to drive in his native Holland.

Amid such swashbuckling confidence, it was often hard to shake the conviction that Verstappen simply has no right to be this good, this young. A solitary season in FIA European Formula Three seemed scant preparation for the step up to F1 competition, but Verstappen made an immediate impact and never let up thereafter. Of the few errors he made, a high-speed crash with Romain Grosjean in Monaco was the most notable, but it was very much the exception rather than the rule. Despite his never-say-die style (see below) and enthralling bravado, the Dutch teenager was nigh on immaculate. Not bad considering he was still in karts just 24 months ago...


FERRARI

The exits of then-president Luca di Montezemolo and then-team principal Marco Mattiacci suggested Ferrari would be in for a massive, and lengthy, restructuring in 2015. Instead, they began the year with an unexpected spring in their step, and broke into a full gallop in Malaysia.

By the season's end they had triumphed on another two occasions - one short of prompting Maurizio Arrivabene to take a barefoot stroll in the Maranello hills - and claimed 16 podiums, their best return since 2008.

With James Allison steering the technical direction, and Sebastian Vettel injecting a fresh energy along with his unerring talent, the Scuderia's prospects are suddenly looking very rosy.

LEWIS HAMILTON

Now a three-time F1 world champion, and with 43 victories to his credit - two more than childhood idol Ayrton Senna, and third on the all-time winners list behind only Michael Schumacher (91) and Alain Prost (51).

If his end-of-season dip gave him food for thought, Hamilton wasn't letting on in Abu Dhabi, where he said - as much to Nico Rosberg as to the press - "I think being world champion sounds a lot better than winning the race..."

Hamilton has earned the right to such a statement. For all the talk of his lifestyle being a distraction - and references to the occasional off-track mishap - Hamilton at his best, and in the best machinery, is a frightening combination. Seven wins, 11 poles and 11 podiums from the opening 12 races showed that when it mattered most, Hamilton blew his opposition away.


MEXICO CITY

Proof that absence makes the heart grow fonder - or that Mexico's love for F1 racing has not dwindled in the slightest over the last two decades. A sell-out crowd, a carnival atmosphere and that podium - this was a glorious return in every sense of the word, as Mexico City rapidly established itself as a new fan and drivers' favourite.

MEXICO CITY

FORCE INDIA

The best campaign in Force India's history started in inauspicious fashion, with the team missing the first two pre-season tests and running an interim car for the first half of the year. Despite that, both Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez kept themselves in the game with a collective nine points finishes over the first nine races, leaving them perfectly placed to capitalise when the B-spec car finally hit the track.

They did just that. Over the final races, the team outscored Red Bull, and only just trailed Williams, 106 points to 97. A podium in Russia - the fourth in the team's history - was the standout moment, but just as impressive was the fact they scored points in every race from Belgium onwards. Only one other team managed that - Mercedes.

SERGIO PEREZ

As Force India hit their stride, so too did Perez. A list of the results of his last five races tells its own story: 3rd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 5th, equating to 39 points. Only the championship top three - Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel - picked up more.

In the process, the Mexican finished a career-best ninth in the championship, and out-scored Nico Hulkenberg 78 points to 58 - the first time Hulkenberg has been put in the shade by a team mate since his rookie season. Little wonder Perez himself labelled it his 'best season' in F1.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL

Gambled by leaving Red Bull, who scored 12 podiums and three wins in 2014, to join Ferrari, who claimed just two podiums amid their worst season in modern times. It paid off.

This wasn't just about Ferrari's upturn - Vettel himself was reinvigorated after the low of 2014. It wasn't needed, but by comprehensively out-performing Kimi Raikkonen the German offered proof of the qualities that carried him to his four world championships. When on song, Vettel is a match for anyone on the grid. If Ferrari take another step forward in 2016, a fifth crown will be firmly in his sights.

CAMO PAINT

Red Bull scored a massive PR win before the championship had even started with the bespoke camouflage livery run in pre-season testing. 'More than just black and white' was the team's take on the CamoBull. 'Epic' was the verdict from the fans.

MARUSSIA

Saved at the 11th hour prior to the season's start, their mere presence on the grid - let alone staying the course and actually closing the gap to Mercedes across the 19 races - is to be celebrated.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN

A superb season to dominate his team mate - Grosjean led Lotus team mate Pastor Maldonado 17-2 in qualifying, and scored 188 percent of the Venezuelan's total points. That he did so while missing 13 FP1 sessions makes the achievement all the more emphatic - while the unlikeliest of podiums in Belgium, amid a string of financial complications for Lotus, was the icing on the cake. A fitting way to end his relationship with the team from Enstone - now he rolls the dice and bets big on the US newcomers Haas.

SPEED TRAPS

Mexico City replaced Monza as the temple of top speed in 2015, with the high altitudes producing record speeds in excess of 360 km/h - significantly faster than the pre-V6 era.

ALONSO AND THE FIRST LAP

No driver made up more ground, or on more occasions, on the opening lap than the two-time champion. Admittedly McLaren's dismal season played into Alonso's hands in this particular regard, giving him plenty of opportunities to rise from the lower fringes of the grid. But when the lights went out, the Spaniard was a force of nature, making up more than 40 places - an average of more than two per race - over the season.

Losers


McLAREN-HONDA

Perhaps it was always going to be difficult to live up to pre-season hype for McLaren and Honda, but the reuniting of these two former powerhouses wasn't just underwhelming: it was crushingly disappointing.

Pre-season set the tone, with McLaren turning in 827 laps in total. Mercedes alone managed 1,914, Mercedes-powered cars 5,836 - effectively seven times Honda's count.

Five seconds off the pace in qualifying in Australia, McLaren pledged patience. But while they did improve, there was ultimately no fix for the fundamental issues of the Honda power unit. Having made compromises to try and keep the engine as tightly packaged as possible, Honda's small compressor meant they were down on power and energy harvesting, leading to a 'scary' deficit of around 20km/h on some straights.

After 19 painful races, both parties have the chance to make real changes - and real progress - over the winter. After such a dismal year, it is an opportunity they simply must take.

RED BULL

They might not have plumbed the same depths as McLaren, but Red Bull had their own painful season, as well-documented issues with power unit suppliers Renault dogged their form.

For the first time since 2008, the team failed to win. Over the same period, 2015 delivered their lowest podium count (three) and worst championship position (fourth).

The conviction remains that the RB11 was one of the best chassis in the field, a notion backed up by the team's instant improvements at circuits where engine power wasn't a priority. But in their very public row with Renault, and their subsequent (unsuccessful) pursuit and aggressive brokering with other engine suppliers, Red Bull lost face as well as performance. Not a season to add to the collection.


RENAULT

Whether your sympathies were with Red Bull or Renault during the war of words that broke out in 2015, it was hard to argue that the French manufacturer had gone the right way with their power unit. Poor initial reliability - which they eventually got on top of - was married with a distinct lack of power, a dynamic exacerbated when they finally released their upgraded unit in time for Brazil. Daniel Ricciardo was the only man to try it, and was distinctly underwhelmed. "It hasn't really given us anything," was the verdict, "so back to the drawing board for Renault." Quite.

ALONSO AND BUTTON

Was there a more depressing sight in 2015 than two world champions, widely considered to be among the best drivers in the world, trudging round at the back of the field? Both often looked for the positives, but this was a character-building season for two veterans who didn't need it, having already cut their teeth in F1 for a decade.

Frustrations inevitably spilled over at times, and there was even talk - prompted by McLaren chief Ron Dennis - of Alonso potentially taking a sabbatical in 2016 if things don't improve. The Spaniard played that down, reiterating his belief in the team's long-term prospects. There is a lot to put right over the next two months...

MARUSSIA

Winners for staying the course in the season, but losers for the way they ended it. The departures of Graeme Lowdon and John Booth, the men behind the team's phoenix-like rise from the ashes, is a big loss. With technical chief Bob Bell also departing, and having been demonstrably slower than anyone else in 2015, the team have a massive battle on their hands over winter.

PASTOR MALDONADO

Maldonado lived up to his alias in 2015, completing five laps or fewer in six Grands Prix this season, and retiring from nine in total. Only Roberto Merhi and Alexander Rossi, neither of whom contested the full season, completed fewer racing laps than the Venezuelan, who was also emphatically beaten by team mate Romain Grosjean. This wasn't a season to silence his detractors by any stretch.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN

Let go by McLaren. By email. On his birthday. Despite largely matching Jenson Button during his rookie season in 2014, the talented Dane's future F1 options are already looking limited.


SUN WORSHIPPERS

The Saturday of this year's Grand Prix at Austin was not a time to be outside. Buffeted by the fringes of Hurricane Patricia, high winds and heavy rain lashed the circuit and caused first the delay, and then the postponing, of qualifying until Sunday morning. Through it all, fans somehow remained in their seats. We can only salute them.

THE POSTMAN

"Will you get each other a Christmas present?" one reporter cheekily asked Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Abu Dhabi. 'No', was the effective response.

Such frosty relations could actually be exactly what F1 needs. Rosberg might have been blown away at the start of the year, but by the end he was firmly on top and had Hamilton rattled. Continue in that vein of form, and the pair's fierce rivalry might become a fierce fight for the championship - and that can only be a good thing for the sport, even if the postman might not be delivering them Christmas cards anytime soon.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

Won a reprieve by signing a one-year contract extension with Ferrari, but there was no disguising the fact Raikkonen was soundly beaten by a multiple world champion for the second season running.

The big chance to reset the balance was at Monza, where Raikkonen beat Vettel and Rosberg to a front-row starting slot. It didn't go well....



RACE REVERSALS

One win in 19 came from outside the front row in 2015 - and that was when Vettel won from third in Hungary. That's not to say there weren't some outstanding races - but it does emphasise the control Mercedes had over proceedings almost throughout.

THE STEWARDS' CALCULATOR

Even Alonso poked fun at McLaren's list of grid penalties, particularly the 105-place collective demotion he and Button received at Spa. That 'world record' was mocked by pundits and public alike, though regulation changes did at least mean it constituted nothing more than a back-row start.

Vettel’s first year with Ferrari

When Sebastian Vettel’s move from Red Bull to Ferrari was finally made public in November 2014, some questioned whether the four-time world champion - in the midst of a miserable campaign in which he’d been roundly beaten by less-experienced team mate Daniel Ricciardo - was the right man to lead the Scuderia back to the top. Twelve months on and those doubters have been well and truly silenced. We take a month-by-month look at Vettel’s unforgettable first year at Ferrari…

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) and Sebastian Vettel (GER) with the new Ferrari SF15-T at Ferrari SF15-T Launch, Ferrari Factory, Maranello, Italy, 30 January 2015

Vettel enjoys what he describes as a 'magical' start to his Ferrari career as he completes a comprehensive introductory session with his new team. Wearing a white helmet bearing the slogan 'il mio Primo giorno in Ferrari' ('my first day in Ferrari'), the German racks up nearly 100 laps in a two-year old F2012 at the Scuderia’s Fiorano test track, before spending the following days undertaking simulator work and having meetings with key figures at Maranello. "There are a lot of fairy tales about Ferrari and how it feels to drive a red car,” Vettel says. “In the end I can only confirm these fairytales.” Meanwhile, Ferrari’s new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene sets the Italian squad a minimum target of at least two Grand Prix victories for 2015...


January - New horizons

Ferrari unveil their 2015 challenger, the SF15-T, with a cautious Vettel warning against expecting immediate results in his maiden season with the team: "There is a lot of change going on, new people in new positions - including myself - so it always takes a bit of time to settle in until you really start to make proper progress.” Asked if he would be happy should Ferrari score one victory over the coming season, Vettel says: "I think we would be happy - but of course we would be happier if we win more. As I said you have to be realistic. I think the most important thing is that we start getting into the groove quickly in winter testing and start to make progress. If the situation is like last year, it will be very difficult to fight for victories, but of course that is our goal. That is why we are here; we are not here to be second."

February - Promising signs

Having appeared to have lost his mojo somewhat in a difficult final season with Red Bull, Vettel fires an encouraging statement of intent by topping not one but both of the opening days of winter testing at Jerez. “It’s too soon to give a verdict on the true level of this car, especially as we can’t make a comparison with the other teams, who can be running different programmes," says the German, who ends the test with the second fastest time overall. "However, I’d say we have a good basis to work from. I think lap times are not that important in the end - it's the amount of laps [that counts]. Surely it's better to be closer to the front rather than a long way behind, but I think in terms of laps there's still a lot of improvement we can do.”

March - An unforgettable pair of races

Having ended pre-season testing with the fourth highest number of laps under his belt - and with Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene declaring that the team had met all their test objectives - a confident and content Vettel finishes an impressive third behind the Mercedes duo in his maiden race for the Prancing Horse in Australia. But if that was a dream debut, things get even better in Malaysia two weeks later as the German stunningly defeats Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in searing temperatures to seal Ferrari’s first triumph in 34 races. “I’m speechless,” says Vettel. “It’s incredible. The race was really spot on. We beat them [Mercedes] fair and square.” So much for understated pre-season predictions - Vettel, having achieved his first Ferrari win five races sooner than childhood idol Michael Schumacher managed in his first season in red in 1996, is now in the thick of the championship battle…

Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari at Formula One Testing, Day Three, Barcelona, Spain, 21 February 2015. © Sutton Motorsport Images

April - Back down to Earth

In spite of his monumental success in Sepang, Vettel heads to the next race in China knowing full well that Mercedes will be hard to beat, and sure enough he has to settle for second best behind the Silver Arrows once again as he collects his third successive podium finish. But his run of rostrums comes to a disappointing end at the next race in Bahrain, where a trip across the gravel - and subsequent pit stop to replace a damaged front wing - sees him slump to a disappointing fifth at the flag as team mate Raikkonen split the Mercedes. “I couldn’t get into a rhythm and lost positions when it mattered,” admits Vettel, who also struggles with the rear end of his SF15-T. Overall, however, his mood remains optimistic. “It’s a long way to go for the season and up to this point we can be very, very happy,” he says. “It’s still a big surprise how good we are, but there’s still a bit of a gap [to Mercedes]."


May - Another pair of podiums

As the F1 fraternity heads to Spain for the first European round of the season, Vettel reasserts his authority over team mate Raikkonen and is once more ‘best of the rest’ as Mercedes sweep to another dominant one-two. Despite finishing a long way back from the Silver Arrows, a fourth podium finish in his first five races with Ferrari makes the German the most successful newcomer in the Scuderia’s illustrious history, and he adds another at the next race in Monaco as he takes advantage of a late Mercedes error to jump into second ahead of Lewis Hamilton.


June - A month off the rostrum

Sitting just 28 points off championship leader Lewis Hamilton heading to Canada, Vettel sees that gap grow as, despite a welcome engine upgrade, he experiences a difficult weekend in Montreal. A surprisingly early exit from qualifying - brought about by power unit issue - is compounded by a five-place grid drop for overtaking under red flags in practice, but despite these issues the four-time world champion pluckily fights his way through to P5 in the race, overcoming a lengthy first pit stop and a skirmish with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg at the chicane. And the new Ferrari star misses the podium again in Austria as further pit-stop issues and a lack of straight-line speed prevent him overhauling Williams’ Felipe Massa for third. “This is a very short lap so there’s not so much to create,” Vettel says in Spielberg. “But in the next races there are more high-speed corners and we can better show that we’re a bit closer [to Mercedes], even if today’s result doesn’t show that so well.”

July - A rollercoaster of mixed emotions

After declaring that Ferrari need to be 'more aggressive' on Saturdays and Sundays, Vettel puts that mantra to good use at Silverstone, overcoming an average grid slot and a poor start to take third behind the Mercedes in a rain-afflicted race.  “We recovered through strategy, mostly by being very aggressive,” the German says. “I was in touch with the team all the time, it was not easy to take the right decision with the weather. But we did a great call to pit just in the perfect lap, made up a lot of ground and finished on the podium. I’m sorry for the people that got wet, but the rain helped us today!” Vettel needs no such assistance at the next race in Hungary, jumping into the lead from third on the grid before driving serenely to his and Ferrari’s second victory of the season. “I don’t know how to put this in words,” says the emotional German, who earlier in the week had joined fellow drivers at fallen comrade Jules Bianchi’s funeral. “Today is for Jules and his family. I think that’s bigger than everything else. But certainly for us, for the team, for myself, it was an amazing day… I think if you take the last couple of days, the ups and downs, both emotionally and in terms of performance, I think it's difficult to beat, but obviously it’s great to come out on top.”


August - A bitter blow(out)

After a summer break in which he learns that Kimi Raikkonen will stay on as his team mate in 2016, Vettel arrives in Belgium still buzzing from victory in Hungary - not least because Mercedes’ misfortunes in Budapest have thrust him back into the world championship picture. But the Prancing Horse pilot’s 150th Grand Prix weekend is destined to end in acrimony and bad feeling as an aggressive one-stop run from eighth on the grid to third is derailed in spectacular fashion when his right-rear tyre lets go on the penultimate lap of the race. “We deserved to finish on the podium but that’s racing; a different thing though is not to finish the race because of what happened,” fumes Vettel afterwards. “I think this is not easy to accept for a driver - even if it’s not as bad as in Silverstone few years ago, we still need to talk to each other as it can’t happen without prior notice.” Tyre suppliers Pirelli are unequivocal in their response, reiterating their belief that the number of laps a driver can run on one set of tyres should be set out in the rules, rather than being left to individual teams to decide. But Vettel isn’t about to lie down, taking the unusual step of issuing a statement on his personal website to say "Our strategy [which included doing 28 laps on the medium tyre] was never risky, at any point,” he declares. The furore would rumble on until Italy…


September - Sparkling successes

After lengthy discussions and a full investigation into what happened at Spa, Pirelli and Vettel settle their differences at Monza, with attention swiftly shifting to the German’s first race on Ferrari’s home soil - an occasion he describes as 'more than special'. On the Italian power circuit, Ferrari are no match for Mercedes, but Vettel is in the perfect position to capitalise when Nico Rosberg has a late engine failure, going on to capture what he’d later describe as 'the best second place I have ever had' behind Lewis Hamilton. “It was an incredible weekend,” Vettel gushes. “It is just unbelievable how much support Ferrari gets here. It makes you feel like you have some kind of ‘super powers’”.  Two weeks later, Vettel puts those new-found super powers to excellent use on the streets of Singapore, taking full advantage of Mercedes’ sudden and unexpected dip in form to capture his first pole and third win of the season, and in the process surpassing the great Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 victories. “Today we are in paradise, but we know we still have a long way to go,” says the German, who is joined on the podium for the first time by team mate Kimi Raikkonen. “It has been a surprise that Mercedes haven’t been on the pace this weekend. We don’t know why, but to be honest we don’t really care...” Unfortunately for Ferrari, Mercedes are back to their dominant best at Suzuka a week later, but Vettel - a four-time winner at the Japanese venue - takes third once more to keep his slim championship aspirations alive.  “It's not done 'til it's done,” he says, now 59 points adrift of Hamilton. “What kind of racing driver would I be if I stopped believing?”


October - A pair of battling drives

Vettel’s harassment of the Silver Arrows continues apace in Sochi as he finishes just 5.9s down on race winner Hamilton after another battling performance. “Once again, as I said many times before, I was impressed by Seb’s skills,” coos Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene as Vettel takes advantage of Rosberg’s early retirement to move into P2 in the drivers’ standings. “He shows at every race what a great driver he is. He drives a very good car, that’s for sure, but he can add that little extra that is a champion’s trademark.” But two weeks later Vettel is on the back foot again in the United States thanks to a routine engine change, for which he receives the mandatory 10-place grid penalty. As usual, the German delivers a typically bullish performance in the race, rising from 13th to third, but failing to do enough to prevent Hamilton sealing his second consecutive drivers’ crown. “The whole team here feels similar to me today,” explains Vettel afterwards. “It’s great to know that we had a fantastic recovery and another strong race, but equally it’s not so nice if you lose out on the championship. So the target is definitely to come back stronger next year and just to keep making progress. I think that’s the best medicine that we need to prescribe to us.”

November - Highs and lows

Vettel declares that he will put everything on the line to fend off Nico Rosberg in their fight for second place in the drivers' championship, but sadly for the four-time champion experiences something of a personal nightmare at the next round in Mexico. Starting fourth, three places back from Rosberg, Vettel makes contact with former team mate Daniel Ricciardo at the first corner, sustaining a puncture that drops him to dead last. Trying to climb back up the order he subsequently spins, before eventually ending his day in uncharacteristic style by crashing into the barriers.  “I did a **** job today,” he admits over team radio as he falls 21 points back from race-winner Rosberg, who goes on to seal second in the standings two weeks later as Vettel comes home a distant third behind the Silver Arrows. He is on the podium again a week later, only this time at the Race of Champions in London, where he sees off 19 of the world best racers to win the multi-discipline competition for the first time. It proves to be his final rostrum of the year, as a miscalculation in qualifying in the Abu Dhabi season finale consigns him to 15th on the grid and another evening of battling his way up the order. He eventually finishes fourth, but has very few complaints. “If you think about where we were only one year ago, this has been a miracle season. I can’t think of any other team which improved so much over a year.”


December - Rounding off the year in style

Vettel caps a brilliant first year with Ferrari - one in which he broke a Scuderia rookie record by scoring 13 podiums - by attending the FIA’s glitzy Prize Giving Gala in Paris.  “It’s not the size that I was looking for,” said a black-tied Vettel, clasping the slightly diminutive gong he picks up for finishing third in the drivers’ standings. “[But] it was a very good start for myself, for my first season with Ferrari, coming away with three wins and a lot of highlights. I think we’re all set for more next year.” 

Formul 1 2015 season review - Hamilton supreme when it mattered

What might have become of the 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship had Nico Rosberg been able to demonstrate the stunning form which saw him win the final three races? It’s a question that will feature strongly in 2016 pre-season talk. But was it all due to team mate Lewis Hamilton having wrapped up the title in Austin, and thus perhaps easing off a fraction? Or had Nico found his mojo at last, just as Lewis - spectacular for so often - lost his?


Lewis Hamilton (right) won ten races on his way to the 2015 drivers' title; team mate Nico Rosberg six
For sure Mercedes got some unjustified stick at the end of the season for their insistence on strategies that favoured their lead driver (whoever it was), but the fact that they have always allowed their men to race has always been to their credit.

Lewis Hamilton

But before we get to possible reasons for Hamilton’s ‘decline’ - lest we forget he still finished a very close second in the final three races, and pushed Rosberg hard - let’s look at how their intra-team battle played out this time.

Right from the start, Hamilton looked super-comfortable and incredibly quick - and to Rosberg’s surprise was more often the man on pole. And he was stronger is races to begin with, too. The reigning champion won easily in Australia, before being beaten into second in the surprise of the season as Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari demonstrated how much progress they had made by winning in Malaysia.

Thereafter things settled down again for Mercedes with Hamilton victorious in Bahrain and China before Rosberg beat him fair and square from pole in Spain.

Hamilton should have won easily from pole in Monaco, where he had finally and convincingly turned the tables on his team mate after two years of defeat. The Englishman got everything together and was utterly dominant, but that very dominance misled Mercedes’ strategists into an ill-fated late-race pit stop that cost their man his most deserved success of the year. Of course, the Silver Arrows still won, courtesy of Rosberg, who headed Vettel home after neither had stopped again, and Hamilton trailed them in third place, barely able to contain Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.


Sebastian Vettel, who picked up his first win for Ferrari in his second race for the team, was Mercedes main threat throughout the season
The only thing that prevented the race from being an utter public relations catastrophe for Mercedes was the dignified manner in which Hamilton dealt with the fiasco.

The reigning champion was back on form immediately in Canada, where he led Rosberg home, before the German beat him again in Austria. Hamilton then judged the weather brilliantly to win in Britain as the battle that raged so tantalisingly between the two men in 2014 swung back and forth once more.

On the British track, however, poor starts had given both Mercedes drivers work to do to overhaul the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, and further poor getaways enabled the Ferraris to pounce again in Hungary. As Vettel won from the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton - who went off early on and was latterly penalised - was Mercedes’ best-placed runner in sixth behind Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso; Rosberg - after a late puncture - was eighth.

Vettel

Hamilton was back on top from Rosberg in Belgium, and won again at Monza where his team mate’s engine broke. Curiously the Mercs were way off the pace in Singapore as neither driver could generate tyre temperature, and as Vettel won again for Ferrari Hamilton retired for the only time in 2015, with Rosberg only fourth behind Ricciardo and Raikkonen.

An aggressive second corner move on Rosberg won the race for Hamilton in Japan, and he took Russia too when the German ran into throttle problems, then another hard move at the first corner in Austin set the scene for arguably the best race of the season. Both drivers struggled to generate tyre temperatures in the greasy early conditions when Ricciardo and Kvyat were at their most dangerous for Red Bull, but as the track dried out Rosberg had the advantage until he made a mistake and slid off track far enough to enable the challenging Hamilton to pounce. That dramatic success was a major shot in the arm for F1 in the US, and won the Englishman his third title, enabling him to achieve a childhood dream of emulating his idol Ayrton Senna.

Mission accomplished for Hamilton, thereafter the victories belonged to Rosberg, who converted three poles into three glorious successes.

But what was it that had changed?


Rosberg's run of victories came too late to deny Hamilton - but they raise the prospect of another tantalising battle in 2016
After Singapore Mercedes modified their complex hydraulic suspension system - which is like the old front and rear inter-connected (FRIC) layout which was banned in 2014 but without the front to rear link. The new set-up suited Rosberg better than it did Hamilton, who began to feel that the car was no longer as “phenomenal” as it had been in the first half of the season, and no longer “really beneath” him, and that he had lost half a second as a result.

Altogether, Mercedes won 16 of the 19 races, 10 for Hamilton, six for Rosberg, and they finished 1-2 on 12 occasions. In the pole stakes, Hamilton had 11 to Rosberg’s seven. By any standards, the Silver Arrows had another season of devastating success that ultimately yielded 703 points to Ferrari’s 428; indeed, that was more than Ferrari’s and Williams points (257) added together.

Ferrari, nonetheless, made some major progress in 2015. Pre-season new team boss Maurizio Arrivabene had spoken optimistically of winning perhaps two races, and everyone was rocked when new-boy Vettel delivered one of them only second time out. That owed much to the high ambient and track temperatures in Sepang, but the German did it again at Hungaroring after beating the Mercedes off the line, and for a third time in Singapore where the silver cars were way off their usual pace.

The SF15-T was a strong car which was generally best-of-the-rest, only rarely being upstaged by William’s FW37 or by the underpowered Red Bull RB11. Kimi Raikkonen was, somewhat disappointingly, usually no match for team mate Vettel, and Bahrain aside it was almost always the German who provided Mercedes their strongest opposition - keeping them honest in the races and even threatening to turn the championship into a three-horse race at times. Ferrari reckon their engine is almost a match for the Mercedes, which means about 875 bhp, and the signs are that their challenge will be even stronger in 2016.

With 257, Williams failed to score as many points as they did in 2014 - 320 - and though they repeated their third place overall, they had a generally disappointing year. The FW37 was not as competitive as the FW36, and though there were some good moments - such as running 1-2 for a while after fast starts at Silverstone - they came nowhere near emulating Massa’s late-season charge in the double-points finale last year. There were some procedural drop-offs - such as when Bottas ran both compounds of tyre at the same time in Belgium - and the decision to work on the FW38 towards the end of the year definitely hurt development. They have plenty to ponder over the winter.


Red Bull's season highlight came in Hungary when Kvyat and Ricciardo finished second and third
Off-track issues overshadowed Red Bull all season, but the former champions still scooped fourth in the constructors’ stakes. They made no bones about their frustration with Renault’s slow rate of development of a power unit that had already been criticised in 2014, and by mid-season it looked like the marriage was over as the team cleared the way for what was expected to be a deal with Mercedes. When that fell apart and deals with Ferrari and Honda were also not forthcoming, the Milton Keynes squad patched things up with Renault once more.

Though there were no victories this year, on the bright side the RB11 emerged as one of the best chassis in the field after modifications in Hungary - where Kvyat led Ricciardo home in a 2-3 behind Vettel - made it more predictable. After a hesitant start Kvyat had a great post-Monaco season which included that first podium at Hungaroring and saw him finish one place and three points ahead of the man who had upstaged Vettel the previous year. Ricciardo, meanwhile, reminded everyone of his ability with a great drive in Texas which had seen him disappearing over the horizon before a safety car intervention saw the Mercedes reel him back in.

Force India were one of the great success stories of the year, going a place better than they had during an impressive 2014 and taking fifth overall as they continued to punch well above their weight. Despite a start to the season that was compromised as they awaited new aerodynamic developments following the switch from their UK wind tunnel to Toyota’s facility in Germany, they scored their best-ever constructors' championship result to show that the day of the successful independent is not yet over. Sergio Perez was a particular star in the second half of the year, scoring the team’s only podium finish of the year in Russia.

Lotus and Toro Rosso batted for sixth place all season. The former were handicapped by financial problems throughout the year, but the Mercedes-engined E23 was a good car and their greatest day of the season came courtesy of Haas-bound Romain Grosjean who scored a much-needed podium with third place at Spa. The team’s future does however look rosy with Renault’s takeover all but complete.

Toro Rosso took the brave step of hiring two rookies, 17-year-old Max Verstappen and 20-year-old Carlos Sainz, and the gamble paid off brilliantly. They were both wild at times, and they had much to learn, but they kept each other on their toes and both proved that they deserved their places in the big league. In the STR10 they also had a great car that, had it been Mercedes-powered, would have surprised many of their rivals. As it was, mechanical reliability let them down quite often, without which they would have finished ahead of Lotus.


F1 racing's first visit to Mexico in 23 years provided one of the highlights of the season
Sauber had a bad start with public legal arguments with Giedo van der Garde in Australia, which was alleviated somewhat on raceday when rookie Felipe Nasr took an excellent fifth place. But thereafter they struggled with development, though Nasr and team mate Marcus Ericsson generally proved evenly matched.

McLaren had one of the toughest seasons of their illustrious history as Honda’s new powertrain struggled horribly with its ERS systems. Despite frequent claims from Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai that the latest version of the engine would now match Renault, then Ferrari, it was often 20 km/h down on the straights, had poor deployment and lacked reliability. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button accrued more penalties than a season of Premier League football, and they amassed a measly 11 and 16 points apiece. The nadir of a brutal year came as the cars were blown off so badly on Honda’s home ground at Suzuka that Alonso likened the Honda V6 to a “GP2 engine.”

Through the refusal of team founders Graeme Lowdon and John Booth to give up, Marussia rose phoenix-like from administration to get back on their feet by Malaysia, and though the aged MR03B was no match for any other car, Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi and Alexander Rossi got them home with 14 double finishes in their 18 races. As such, Lowdon and Booth could leave the team with their heads held high.

The second season of the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 power units and their complex ERS systems saw power outputs edge up to around 875 bhp. Aerodynamics remained important, but it was still the power unit that was the real performance differentiator for the second year running.

Tyre conservation remained crucial, and Pirelli generally had a reasonably successful season in terms of compound choice and achieving the planned balance of grip versus built-in degradation from circuit to circuit.

Tragedy once again touched the sport in July when Jules Bianchi succumbed to the injuries he sustained during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. His passing, together with the death of former Minardi and Jaguar star Justin Wilson through head injuries sustained in an IndyCar race in August, prompted further discussion about safety and closed cockpits.

But if those were the undoubted lows, there were plenty of highs too. The highlight of the season, the race in Texas apart, was F1 racing’s triumphant return to Mexico. The race was a massive success, boosted by the presence of Sergio Perez and his run of strong performances which sparked national pride and provided unerring evidence, if it were needed, of Formula One racing’s enduring international appeal.

Verstappen picks up three awards at FIA Gala

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen scooped three awards at the FIA’s 2015 Prize Giving Gala on Friday evening, following his standout debut Formula One season.

Verstappen, who scored 49 points to finish 12th in this year’s driver standings, won Rookie of the Year and Personality of the Year, as well as securing the Action of the Year accolade.

Toro Rosso`s

"I am amazed and very happy to have won three awards this evening at such an important event, and at the end of only my first year in Formula One,” said Verstappen.

The 18-year-old Dutchman was voted Rookie of the Year by the FIA Drivers’ Commission, made up of accomplished drivers from a range of motorsport categories, Personality of the Year by the media, and won the Action of the Year prize following a public vote.

Fans were given the chance to pick one of nine overtakes from various racing series, and Verstappen’s move on Sauber’s Felipe Nasr around the outside of Blanchimont at Spa-Francorchamps during the Belgian Grand Prix came out on top.

“It’s nice to win the Action of the Year for the second time, because I really enjoy overtaking on track," added Verstappen.

“It’s a great honour to win the Rookie of the Year award, as it’s voted for by the Drivers’ Commission and I have to say, getting two fourth place finishes in my first F1 season is more than I expected.

“Personality of the Year? I’m not sure why I won that, but it’s nice to know the media like me!”

Renault announces return to Formula one racing for 2016 season

Renault will return to Formula One racing as a works entrant in 2016, the French manufacturer announced on Thursday.

The confirmation comes more than two months after Renault signed a Letter of Intent to acquire a controlling share in Lotus - the team it operated from 2002 to 2009. Principal contracts between the two parties were signed on December 3, though Renault say work continues on finalising the terms of the acquisition “in the shortest timeframe possible”.

“Renault had two options: to come back at 100 percent or leave,” said Carlos Ghosn, Renault’s Chairman and CEO. “After a detailed study, I have decided that Renault will be in Formula One, starting in 2016. The final details supplied by F1’s main stakeholders gave us the confidence to accept this new challenge. Our ambition is to win - even if it will take some time.”

Renault have had uninterrupted involvement in Formula One racing for almost 40 years, both as a works entrant and an engine supplier. Renault and Lotus, meanwhile, have known each other for 15 years and were world champions together in 2005 and 2006.

“As the pinnacle of motor sport, Formula One demands technological and operational excellence," said Renault in Thursday's announcement. "The championship serves as a showcase for the technological expertise that Renault dials into its products for the benefit of its customers.

“Formula One is a means for Renault to accelerate development and remain at the forefront of the sport’s technological progress.

“It simultaneously allows Renault to build bridges between the advanced technologies seen in the world championship and its road cars, particularly in the fields of electric and hybrid vehicles.”

Renault will provide more detailed information on their planned F1 programme in January.

Formula One Racing confirms 2016 calendar

Formula One racing's governing body, the FIA, has formally ratified a 21-race calendar for the 2016 season, running from March to November.

A meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday confirmed a change in the F1 sporting regulations, increasing the maximum permitted number of races in a season from 20 to 21. The 2016 campaign will therefore feature more rounds than any other in F1 history, surpassing the previous benchmark of 20 from 2012.

The expanded calendar features one new race - in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 17-19 - and the return of a Grand Prix in Germany, with Hockenheim hosting the race. Australia will once again host the season opener, on March 18-20, while Abu Dhabi will stage the final round for a fifth time, on November 25-27.

The 2016 calendar also includes six back-to-back weekends - Canada and Baku, Austria and Great Britain, Hungary and Germany, Belgium and Italy, Malaysia and Japan, and the USA and Mexico will all be held on respective consecutive weekends. The USA’s slot remains provisional.

The 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar in full:

March 20 - Australia

April 3 - Bahrain

April 17 - China

May 1 - Sochi

May 15 - Spain

May 29 - Monaco

June 12 - Canada

June 19 - Baku*

July 3 - Austria

July 10 - Great Britain

July 24 - Hungary

July 31 - Germany

August 28 - Belgium

September 4 - Italy

September 18 - Singapore

October 2 - Malaysia

October 9 - Japan

October 23 - USA**

October 30 - Mexico

November 13 - Brazil

November 27 - Abu Dhabi

*race start to be scheduled to avoid conflict with the conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

**subject to agreement with the promoter and the ASN

Rosberg makes it a hat-trick with victory at Yas Marina

Nico Rosberg defeated Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton for the third race in succession on Sunday, with a commanding drive in the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The world champion put in a late charge, but it wasn’t enough to stop Rosberg prevailing to score his sixth win of the season.

Nico Rosberg

Rosberg started well from pole and was always in charge of a tactical race, even after Hamilton tried to extend his second stint so that he would have the advantage of fresher soft-compound Pirelli tyres in the losing stages.

After stopping for the second and final time on lap 41, 10 later than Rosberg, Hamilton was 12.5s adrift and quickly reduced that deficit to 6.8s with four laps to run, but then he ran into traffic and Rosberg was able to extend the gap to a comfortable 8.2s by the flag.

Behind the Silver Arrows, Kimi Raikkonen drove a strong race for Ferrari to take third and secure fourth in the drivers’ world championship ahead of countryman Valtteri Bottas, as Sebastian Vettel came up from 15th on the grid to take fourth for the Scuderia. The German started on soft rubber and made a set of supersofts last from the 39th lap.

Sergio Perez realised Force India’s potential with a solid fifth, fending off a consistent challenge from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg was unable to do better than seventh in the second Force India. He was nevertheless well clear of Williams’ better placed finisher Felipe Massa. The Brazilian was just able to resist attacks from outgoing Lotus racer Romain Grosjean at the end.

Grosjean, like Vettel, had started on softs after getting a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, and used a set of supersofts right at the end to jump Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, thus departing the team with two final points which ensured that they stayed ahead of Toro Rosso in the standings.

Sainz’s team mate Max Verstappen had an adventurous race which included a stop to replace hugely flat-spotted tyres and a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits during a tough fight with McLaren’s Jenson Button. The Englishman thus took 12th place ahead of Bottas, who made a poor start and then had his race ruined when he was released into Button’s path during the first pit stops; the Williams needed a new front wing but the Finn also had to serve a five-second penalty.

Marcus Ericsson led Sauber team mate Felipe Nasr home for 14th, as Verstappen dropped from 12th on the road to 16th after stewards added a further 20s to his race time for ignoring blue flags late on.

Fernando Alonso had a horrible race for McLaren; he hit Pastor Maldonado at the first corner and was given a drive-through penalty, but maintained that he had been punted into the Venezuelan’s Lotus by Nasr. He finished 17th.

Will Stevens led Marussia team mate Roberto Merhi home, as Maldonado was the only non-finisher.

Hamilton thus ended his year with 381 points to Rosberg’s 322, with Vettel third on 278 and Raikkonen on 150.

In the constructors’ stakes, Mercedes finished with 703 points to Ferrari’s 428 and Williams’ 257.

The teams now regroup ahead of Tuesday's 12-hour Pirelli tyre test at the Yas Marina Circuit