2015 Formula One Mid-season summary

We are back and yes it is been a while with no postings here; hopefully we can make up some time by posting a mid-season summary here as per our friends at F1 Teammate Challenge ahead of 2015 British Grand Prix

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
Lewis Hamilton has had the upper hand on pole positions; 7 poles to his name versus only 1 pole by Nico Rosberg. Same goes for the number of wins; with Rosberg getting his last win right (Austria) and 2 consecutive race wins (Spain and Monaco). But Lewis Hamilton has been most consistent here; beating his teammate 5 times in 8 races and leading the points game by 10.

Scuderia Ferrari
Definitely Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari are the surprise contenders this 2015. The German champion has beat Raikkonen on all fronts (qualification, race results and points). Only in Canada Raikkonen qualified better but that was due to a technical problem in Vettel’s car. When it comes to racing only in Bahrain and Canada Raikkonen ended up better than Vettel. Most points = Vettel.

One caveat for the 2015: The Ferrari F1 car looks amazing this year:

Williams Martini Racing
Felipe Massa versus Valtteri Bottas: Massa is great at qualifying beating his teammate in 5 out of 8 rounds; but Bottas has had more luck in race results = more points. But both drivers are almost at par in terms of points: 62 (Massa) versus 67 (Bottas).

Infiniti Red Bull Racing
The Renault engine is hurting Red Bull but both Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo are giving their hearts out. Ricciardo has been impressive in qualifying making the top 10 in five rounds (out of 8) and beating his younger teammate. In terms of races results both are at par; both beating each other 3 times. Most points and consistency goes to Ricciardo.

Lotus F1 Team
Where will you put your money here? Pastor Maldonado or Romain Grosjean? raw qualifying speed definitely goes to Grosjean, beating his teammate in all rounds except for Monaco. Consistency and pace have not being on the side of Maldonado, some bad luck and crashes have left him with various Did Not Finish (DNF). Still Grosjean has finished races but not in the points.

Sahara Force India F1
Nico Hulkenberg have outqualified Sergio Perez in most of the races so far; but not for much – only in recent rounds (Canada, Austria) is that Hulkenberg has shown much more pace that his Mexican counterpart. Race results goes to Perez, but most points to Hulkenberg (finished three times in the top 10).

Scuderia Toro Rosso
The young driver team: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Both are at par in qualifying results; some going to Verstappen and others to Sainz. Better consistency for Sainz in race results but Verstappen has shown some brilliant results 7th in Malaysia and 8th in Austria that gives him an edge in points.

Sauber F1 Team
Marcus Ericsson versus Felipe Nasr: raw qualifying speed and races results goes to the Brazilian and the points follow him. Only in 2 occasions Ericsson outqualified Nasr: Malaysia and Canada, the rest of rounds all go the Nasr way.

Manor Marussia F1
Will Stevens has been the winner here so far. He has outqualified and finished better than Roberto Merhi, but not for much. Still no points yet for neither.

McLaren Honda
Not that we leave the best for last; but a Fernando Alonso versus Jenson Button is really hard to measure. Both have suffered the challenges of a new F1 Honda engine, and new team set up and the slow development curve at McLaren-Honda. Still, Alonso has outqualified Button in 4 occasions. Only once so far both drivers finished a race = China. And on such occasion was Alonso ahead of Button. Points? Only Jenson Button when finishing Monaco in 8th position.

We wish the McLaren Honda can race as good as it looks!