After Mercedes dominating the season, 2014 saw Lewis Hamilton become Britain’s newest double World Champion. 2014 also saw Mercedes secure their title in the Constructor’s World Championship. During the offseason, Mercedes invested millions of pounds into the development of the power units for their silver arrows. Winter testing saw a strong Mercedes duo, with the Mercedes more reliable ahead of the start of the 2015 World Championship, fans perceptions that Rosberg would be Hamilton’s biggest threat in the Driver’s World Championship contest of 2015.
The winter dominance continued into the free practice and qualifying of the first race of the season in Australia, with both cars leading the front row of the grid in qualifying, translating into a 1, 2 victory for Mercedes at the end of the Oz race.
All appeared to be going well for the Brackley based team as the Mercedes car’s set the pace in free practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Temperatures in Sepang meant the Ferrari team were closer than ever, resulting in Vettel out qualifying Rosberg on the front row of the grid. Malaysia proved a strategic race, however on this occasion Mercedes had their strategy wrong, bringing both silver arrows into the pits during the safety car. This would prove a costly Mercedes mistake, handing Vettel his first race win. Toto Wolff vowed that Mercedes would learn from their mistakes and improve.
Next stop China and it appeared Mercedes had learned from their mistakes, as they dominated the free practice sessions and locked out the front row of the grid in qualifying. Yet this race saw more of the 2014 team dynamics between Lewis and Nico, as Rosberg felt his race was compromised by Hamilton’s pace, or lack of it, affecting the German’s tyre degradation. During the race fans were kept on the edge of their seats with the on / off radio dialogue between the drivers and their race engineers. Ultimately this remained Hamilton’s race and victory.
Bahrain saw Vettel pushing hard in qualifying, leaving Rosberg in third, after Hamilton had secured pole position – again. Rosberg just could not find the same pace from the Mercedes silver arrow.
Spain and Monaco were witness to the season turnaround for Rosberg. Rosberg secured his first season win, following Hamilton’s poor effort at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix. Monaco witnessed more Mercedes poor strategy as Lewis was asked to pit under the safety, in the closing stages of the high-profile race, leaving the Briton to finish third, a costly error of judgement. Mercedes openly admitting that there had been a miscalculation, but those few seconds cost Lewis his race win.
Next stop Canada and the Mercedes duo were back on top form with the track’s long straights that suited to the Mercedes car. Hamilton gained his first win since Bahrain, with Rosberg finishing a close second.
The Austrian Grand Prix saw lots of race weekend drama, starting in qualifying when both Hamilton and Rosberg both went off the track on their final qualification laps. There were penalties and incidents aplenty, including a penalty for Lewis in crossing the pit lane exit, thereby giving the victory race win to his teammate.
The British Grand Prix saw a 1 and 2 finish for the Mercedes team, although fans feared this might not be the way the race ended, following the super start from both Williams’s drivers leaving the Mercedes duo to catch them, which after pit stops and intermittent rain was a successful mission.
Last race in Hungary was again littered with contact, punctures, penalties galore, and after yet again another poor start from the Mercedes team, the victory was handed to Sebastian Vettel. This chaotic race highlighted that at the mid-season point unlike 2014 this is not all about Mercedes. Vettel seeks to remind the Mercedes team that Ferrari are continuing to improve, with 2 out of the last 10 race victories it appears the title race is not over yet.
Lewis Hamilton – 202 points / 1st in the Driver’s Championship
Hamilton’s qualifying pace is perfect, translating to 9 pole positions from the first 10 races of the season. At this point last year, the 2014 season improved for Lewis, as he secured 6 out of the remaining 7 races into victories which gave him the World Championship title. Despite some recent Mercedes team strategy errors and poor race starts, which have meant a reduction in race wins and vital championship points, Lewis still remains the favourite to retain his Driver’s world Championship title at the end of the 2015 season.
Nico Rosberg – 181 points / 2nd in the Driver’s Championship
Rosberg tried all offseason to narrow the gap between himself and his teammate. Nico has not been able to find the qualifying pace from the Mercedes that Lewis has. With three season wins behind him and only 21 championship points between the Mercedes duo, Rosberg needs to maximise points gained in the second half of the season to stand a chance at fighting for the World Driver’s Championship, a battle that looks likely to involve more than just Mercedes and that will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi in November 2015.
