Il_leone
World Champion
I thought I'd just do this since there has not been one
1. Vettel - No one else really given his record breaking season . The car was the class of the field but the whooping to teammate Webber by nearly 200 pts says it all about the man's relentless pursuit of records. Malaysia could have spelled trouble for him but Silverstone tyre debacle meant he won the season unopposed and crushing everyone
2. Hulkenberg - the Next Big Thing has shown enough qualities to indicate he deserves a top drive. Early part of the season he was hanging onto the top 10. Once the car improved and he was closer to the front he became a real nuisance to the front runners especially at Korea and Monza where it was no fluke. Absolute travesty that none of the top teams have signed him over his height and lack of finance but certainly not a lack of talent
3. Alonso - still the best driver on the grid in getting the Ferrari to 2nd in the championship. Great wins in China and Spain but lead down by bizarre decisions in Malaysia and Bahrain. The constant battle having to fight the superior Red Bull has lead to the first signs of his Ferrari relationship going sour
4. Grosjean - the first lap nutcase was gone and Romain finally found consistency and race craft as renowned from his junior days. More than not the Red Bull challenger later in the season. A string of impressive podiums as well as starting to put Kimi in the shade has lifted his reputation into a potential race winner and world champion
5. Raikkonen - having won the first race and displaying consistency to challenge Vettel initially. His season tailed off as soon as contract talks started with the issue over money. Feeling duped by his team over broken pay promises - his motivation dropped and a nasty side of the usually unflappable Iceman surfaced walking out on the team with 2 races to go.
6. Hamilton - Moving to Mercedes turned out to be great for Lewis as he found a new lease of life and a sense of freedom. The speed was clear to see over 1 lap unfortunately race day was a different story with fast wearing Mercedes. Took a well deserved victory in Hungary and has settled into the team well. However his season was affected by his struggles with the car designed for Schumacher/ Rosberg at times
7. Rosberg - Rather than being daunted by the challenge Nico coped well with all the attention Lewis was getting whilst managing to keep their friendship in tact for now. Not able to challenge Lewis over 1 lap he showed given the right conditions he can certainly match and outrace him. Took two impressive wins when the opportunities but also a lack of consistency and unreliability by Mercedes meant he only got 1 other podium and finishing in 6th position
8. Webber - it must be hard to finally accept your teammate is simply better and getting constant beatings by some margin. The realisation after Malaysia that he is fighting a teammate who's simply willing to take more risks outside his boundaries must be hard to take when the odds were already stacked against him. Still when he was hooked up to the track he was able to give his teammate good competition like in Suzuka and Brazil but it still wast not enough. Perhaps then it was right for him to call it day
9. Massa - the nice man of F1. Who showed signs of his old self gradually, outqualifying Alonso numerous times but unable to match his race day pace. He had many races where he was on his teammates pace and often ruined by misfortune not of his own making apart from Monaco.
10. Button - Having seen off Hamilton he must have thought he had a shot at the driver's title until the realisation the car was woefully off the pace early in the season and unlikely to challenge. He was still able to use experience to put Perez in his place with class drives in Spa, and Interlagos as well as displaying experience in managing different strategy to its maximum like Germany. What he lacked in 1 lap speed he more than made up with his race day pace over his younger teammate
1. Vettel - No one else really given his record breaking season . The car was the class of the field but the whooping to teammate Webber by nearly 200 pts says it all about the man's relentless pursuit of records. Malaysia could have spelled trouble for him but Silverstone tyre debacle meant he won the season unopposed and crushing everyone
2. Hulkenberg - the Next Big Thing has shown enough qualities to indicate he deserves a top drive. Early part of the season he was hanging onto the top 10. Once the car improved and he was closer to the front he became a real nuisance to the front runners especially at Korea and Monza where it was no fluke. Absolute travesty that none of the top teams have signed him over his height and lack of finance but certainly not a lack of talent
3. Alonso - still the best driver on the grid in getting the Ferrari to 2nd in the championship. Great wins in China and Spain but lead down by bizarre decisions in Malaysia and Bahrain. The constant battle having to fight the superior Red Bull has lead to the first signs of his Ferrari relationship going sour
4. Grosjean - the first lap nutcase was gone and Romain finally found consistency and race craft as renowned from his junior days. More than not the Red Bull challenger later in the season. A string of impressive podiums as well as starting to put Kimi in the shade has lifted his reputation into a potential race winner and world champion
5. Raikkonen - having won the first race and displaying consistency to challenge Vettel initially. His season tailed off as soon as contract talks started with the issue over money. Feeling duped by his team over broken pay promises - his motivation dropped and a nasty side of the usually unflappable Iceman surfaced walking out on the team with 2 races to go.
6. Hamilton - Moving to Mercedes turned out to be great for Lewis as he found a new lease of life and a sense of freedom. The speed was clear to see over 1 lap unfortunately race day was a different story with fast wearing Mercedes. Took a well deserved victory in Hungary and has settled into the team well. However his season was affected by his struggles with the car designed for Schumacher/ Rosberg at times
7. Rosberg - Rather than being daunted by the challenge Nico coped well with all the attention Lewis was getting whilst managing to keep their friendship in tact for now. Not able to challenge Lewis over 1 lap he showed given the right conditions he can certainly match and outrace him. Took two impressive wins when the opportunities but also a lack of consistency and unreliability by Mercedes meant he only got 1 other podium and finishing in 6th position
8. Webber - it must be hard to finally accept your teammate is simply better and getting constant beatings by some margin. The realisation after Malaysia that he is fighting a teammate who's simply willing to take more risks outside his boundaries must be hard to take when the odds were already stacked against him. Still when he was hooked up to the track he was able to give his teammate good competition like in Suzuka and Brazil but it still wast not enough. Perhaps then it was right for him to call it day
9. Massa - the nice man of F1. Who showed signs of his old self gradually, outqualifying Alonso numerous times but unable to match his race day pace. He had many races where he was on his teammates pace and often ruined by misfortune not of his own making apart from Monaco.
10. Button - Having seen off Hamilton he must have thought he had a shot at the driver's title until the realisation the car was woefully off the pace early in the season and unlikely to challenge. He was still able to use experience to put Perez in his place with class drives in Spa, and Interlagos as well as displaying experience in managing different strategy to its maximum like Germany. What he lacked in 1 lap speed he more than made up with his race day pace over his younger teammate
