For many, 2015 was a mixed bag for the F1 grid. We saw some very impressive campaigns in the sport this year, as well as some that were completely forgettable.
With the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix now a distant memory and focus switching to next season, here is the performance grid for F1 2015.
1. Lewis Hamilton
This was a pretty easy decision. Hamilton enjoyed another stunning season, arguably more polished compared to his title glory in 2014. Mercedes once again proved to be the team to beat and he dominated for much of the year.
The British driver scored 10 wins and 11 pole positions, securing the world title with three rounds to spare. He lost his advantage in the final few rounds, picking up three consecutive second place finishes, and a few team errors prevented it from being the perfect championship season.
2. Sebastian Vettel
Questions were raised about Vettel’s ability after a difficult 2014 season at Red Bull, but he found a new lease of life at Ferrari and was back to his best. The Italian outfit’s improvements over the winter helped the German become a contender for victory at several rounds.
He took three race victories, put in some fantastic performances and recovery drives during his first year at Ferrari and finished impressively close to the Mercedes duo, smashing the inter-team driver rivalry at the same time.
3. Nico Rosberg
It was another season of being second best for Rosberg in 2015. His previous qualifying form disappeared and despite taking three wins in four races from Spain to Austria, a difficult mid-season run saw him lose tough with Hamilton in the title fight. Overall it was disappointing but after losing out on the title, he ended the year on a high with three wins.
4. Max Verstappen
2015 was certainly an action-packed debut season for Verstappen. He became F1’s youngest ever driver when he competed in Australia and went on to enjoy a very positive rookie campaign with Toro Rosso.
Sure, he made mistakes, stuck the car in the wall a few times and suffered some bad luck too. But he was F1’s most exciting driver of the year, putting in some surprising, impressive performances, completing some breath-taking overtakes and enjoying success that few predicted prior to the start of the year.
5. Romain Grosjean
It was far from an easy season for Lotus, with financial problems putting its future at risk. However, Grosjean powered through the off-track troubles and did well with the E23, despite failing to finish the year in the top 10.
The Frenchman deserved more from 2015 but nevertheless we saw some ballsy, brilliant drives. His run to third place in Belgium was undoubtedly the highlight and now he looks ahead to a new chapter at Haas F1.
6. Daniel Ricciardo
The Australian was one of the stars of 2014 but he found the last F1 season more difficult. Kvyat proved to be a good match and a few problems and retirements prevented him from getting the maximum from the RB11. The Renault power unit once again let Red Bull down but overall Ricciardo kept on fighting.
7. Daniil Kvyat
The Russian’s second year in F1 went very well. He finished ahead of his team-mate in the drivers’ championship, scored his first ever podium with second place in Hungary and put together a mature season, with four further top five results. Some felt Red Bull had rushed into promoting him for 2015 but he proved the critics wrong.
8. Sergio Perez
This was undoubtedly Perez’s most impressive season in F1 so far. He put in some powerful drives, often on an alternative strategy, and his podium finish in Russia was clearly the high point. He had the advantage over team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the majority of the season and finished 20 points ahead of him in the standings.
9. Valtteri Bottas
I expected more from Williams in 2015. The team was relegated to third best, meaning podiums were harder to come by. However, Bottas finished in the top three twice and enjoyed some strong drives, especially earlier in the year. He got caught up in a few scuffles with countryman Kimi Raikkonen but overall it was largely a positive season for Bottas.
10. Carlos Sainz Jr
While his team-mate Verstappen was stealing most of the headlines, Sainz Jr still deserves a lot of credit for his rookie season in F1. He suffered more bad luck and retirements, but still showed strong speed and race craft, as well as putting in some fantastic qualifying laps.
11. Felipe Massa
It was a fairly unspectacular season for Massa. The inter-team battle at Williams was closer compared to 2014, but despite his podiums in Austria and Italy, it was a disappointing year overall for the Brazilian.
12. Fernando Alonso
The Spaniard, like Button, struggled for most of the year with reliability issues. Both kept a positive attitude but behind the scenes, it must have been very frustrating. It was strange to see him battling at the back and McLaren’s issues meant it was difficult to decide on a performance grid position for both drivers, but he did well on Sundays despite suffering more bad luck.
13. Jenson Button
Fernando Alonso and Button proved to be a very exciting driver line-up at McLaren. While the Honda power unit was disastrous and the chassis was okay at best, Button and Alonso proved to be quite equally matched – which I was quite surprised about. A slightly stronger run of races towards the end of the season helped him finish ahead of his team-mate in the championship.
14. Nico Hulkenberg
Having been linked to several top drives in the last year or two, it was unusual to see Hulkenberg having such a low-key and average season in F1. Perez proved to be the quicker driver at Force India at most of the races, but while it was a tough year in the sport, his highlight was taking victory at Le Mans with Porsche.
15. Kimi Raikkonen
The Iceman finished fourth in the standings with three podium finishes and proved to be more comfortable with the SF15-T. However, it was another disappointing season for Raikkonen. There is no denying the fact that he was thrashed by Vettel in the inter-team war at Ferrari. His results were just not good enough.
16. Felipe Nasr
The Brazilian debuted in F1 with a fifth place finish in Australia but things only got worse for Sauber. Despite the lacklustre C34, Nasr was quietly impressive in 2015, scoring on several more occasions and finishing 13th overall.
17. Alexander Rossi
He may have only raced in five rounds, driving the slowest car on the grid, but the American still managed to make an impact. Despite a lack of experience with Manor’s revised 2014 car and a busy calendar racing in GP2, he outclassed regular Will Stevens.
18. Will Stevens
It is hard to shine when you are battling at the very back of the field, several seconds per lap slower than the leaders. Stevens showed improvement throughout the season but was beaten 4-1 by Rossi and finished behind the heavier Roberto Merhi on several occasions.
19. Pastor Maldonado
The Venezuelan’s 2015 was slightly more polished compared to previous seasons, but he was still unable to shake off his reputation. Seventh in Austria was his first top 10 result of the year and he added to his tally with a couple of decent drives to points, but Grosjean dominated at Lotus.
20. Marcus Ericsson
The Swede’s season was, quite frankly, forgettable. He was regularly outclassed by rookie team-mate Nasr and only scored a few low-key top 10 finishes, with his best result being eighth in Australia.
21. Roberto Merhi
The Spaniard’s tall frame proved to be a disadvantage at Manor, with his team-mate Stevens being much lighter. However, this didn’t stop him from regularly finishing ahead of Stevens. It was a difficult start for Merhi but he made decent progress, only to lose his seat for five of the final seven rounds.
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| © Octane Photographic |
1. Lewis Hamilton
This was a pretty easy decision. Hamilton enjoyed another stunning season, arguably more polished compared to his title glory in 2014. Mercedes once again proved to be the team to beat and he dominated for much of the year.
The British driver scored 10 wins and 11 pole positions, securing the world title with three rounds to spare. He lost his advantage in the final few rounds, picking up three consecutive second place finishes, and a few team errors prevented it from being the perfect championship season.
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| © Octane Photographic |
2. Sebastian Vettel
Questions were raised about Vettel’s ability after a difficult 2014 season at Red Bull, but he found a new lease of life at Ferrari and was back to his best. The Italian outfit’s improvements over the winter helped the German become a contender for victory at several rounds.
He took three race victories, put in some fantastic performances and recovery drives during his first year at Ferrari and finished impressively close to the Mercedes duo, smashing the inter-team driver rivalry at the same time.
3. Nico Rosberg
It was another season of being second best for Rosberg in 2015. His previous qualifying form disappeared and despite taking three wins in four races from Spain to Austria, a difficult mid-season run saw him lose tough with Hamilton in the title fight. Overall it was disappointing but after losing out on the title, he ended the year on a high with three wins.
4. Max Verstappen
2015 was certainly an action-packed debut season for Verstappen. He became F1’s youngest ever driver when he competed in Australia and went on to enjoy a very positive rookie campaign with Toro Rosso.
Sure, he made mistakes, stuck the car in the wall a few times and suffered some bad luck too. But he was F1’s most exciting driver of the year, putting in some surprising, impressive performances, completing some breath-taking overtakes and enjoying success that few predicted prior to the start of the year.
5. Romain Grosjean
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| © Octane Photographic |
It was far from an easy season for Lotus, with financial problems putting its future at risk. However, Grosjean powered through the off-track troubles and did well with the E23, despite failing to finish the year in the top 10.
The Frenchman deserved more from 2015 but nevertheless we saw some ballsy, brilliant drives. His run to third place in Belgium was undoubtedly the highlight and now he looks ahead to a new chapter at Haas F1.
6. Daniel Ricciardo
The Australian was one of the stars of 2014 but he found the last F1 season more difficult. Kvyat proved to be a good match and a few problems and retirements prevented him from getting the maximum from the RB11. The Renault power unit once again let Red Bull down but overall Ricciardo kept on fighting.
7. Daniil Kvyat
The Russian’s second year in F1 went very well. He finished ahead of his team-mate in the drivers’ championship, scored his first ever podium with second place in Hungary and put together a mature season, with four further top five results. Some felt Red Bull had rushed into promoting him for 2015 but he proved the critics wrong.
8. Sergio Perez
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| © Octane Photographic |
This was undoubtedly Perez’s most impressive season in F1 so far. He put in some powerful drives, often on an alternative strategy, and his podium finish in Russia was clearly the high point. He had the advantage over team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the majority of the season and finished 20 points ahead of him in the standings.
9. Valtteri Bottas
I expected more from Williams in 2015. The team was relegated to third best, meaning podiums were harder to come by. However, Bottas finished in the top three twice and enjoyed some strong drives, especially earlier in the year. He got caught up in a few scuffles with countryman Kimi Raikkonen but overall it was largely a positive season for Bottas.
10. Carlos Sainz Jr
While his team-mate Verstappen was stealing most of the headlines, Sainz Jr still deserves a lot of credit for his rookie season in F1. He suffered more bad luck and retirements, but still showed strong speed and race craft, as well as putting in some fantastic qualifying laps.
11. Felipe Massa
It was a fairly unspectacular season for Massa. The inter-team battle at Williams was closer compared to 2014, but despite his podiums in Austria and Italy, it was a disappointing year overall for the Brazilian.
12. Fernando Alonso
The Spaniard, like Button, struggled for most of the year with reliability issues. Both kept a positive attitude but behind the scenes, it must have been very frustrating. It was strange to see him battling at the back and McLaren’s issues meant it was difficult to decide on a performance grid position for both drivers, but he did well on Sundays despite suffering more bad luck.
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| © Octane Photographic |
13. Jenson Button
Fernando Alonso and Button proved to be a very exciting driver line-up at McLaren. While the Honda power unit was disastrous and the chassis was okay at best, Button and Alonso proved to be quite equally matched – which I was quite surprised about. A slightly stronger run of races towards the end of the season helped him finish ahead of his team-mate in the championship.
14. Nico Hulkenberg
Having been linked to several top drives in the last year or two, it was unusual to see Hulkenberg having such a low-key and average season in F1. Perez proved to be the quicker driver at Force India at most of the races, but while it was a tough year in the sport, his highlight was taking victory at Le Mans with Porsche.
15. Kimi Raikkonen
The Iceman finished fourth in the standings with three podium finishes and proved to be more comfortable with the SF15-T. However, it was another disappointing season for Raikkonen. There is no denying the fact that he was thrashed by Vettel in the inter-team war at Ferrari. His results were just not good enough.
16. Felipe Nasr
The Brazilian debuted in F1 with a fifth place finish in Australia but things only got worse for Sauber. Despite the lacklustre C34, Nasr was quietly impressive in 2015, scoring on several more occasions and finishing 13th overall.
17. Alexander Rossi
He may have only raced in five rounds, driving the slowest car on the grid, but the American still managed to make an impact. Despite a lack of experience with Manor’s revised 2014 car and a busy calendar racing in GP2, he outclassed regular Will Stevens.
18. Will Stevens
It is hard to shine when you are battling at the very back of the field, several seconds per lap slower than the leaders. Stevens showed improvement throughout the season but was beaten 4-1 by Rossi and finished behind the heavier Roberto Merhi on several occasions.
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| © Octane Photographic |
19. Pastor Maldonado
The Venezuelan’s 2015 was slightly more polished compared to previous seasons, but he was still unable to shake off his reputation. Seventh in Austria was his first top 10 result of the year and he added to his tally with a couple of decent drives to points, but Grosjean dominated at Lotus.
20. Marcus Ericsson
The Swede’s season was, quite frankly, forgettable. He was regularly outclassed by rookie team-mate Nasr and only scored a few low-key top 10 finishes, with his best result being eighth in Australia.
21. Roberto Merhi
The Spaniard’s tall frame proved to be a disadvantage at Manor, with his team-mate Stevens being much lighter. However, this didn’t stop him from regularly finishing ahead of Stevens. It was a difficult start for Merhi but he made decent progress, only to lose his seat for five of the final seven rounds.
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