After one of the best Formula One races of the decade, we take a look at how each driver performed over the 2015 United States Grand Prix weekend. Overall, there were so many great drives we had no choice but so give so many drivers over nine out of then. Bonus points to all drivers for putting on such a great show as a brilliant reward to the brave and patient American fans.
1st place – Lewis Hamilton
The newly crowned three-time Formula 1 World Champion had a far from an easy championship-sealing race. He struggled to manage his intermediate tyres early on and was passed by Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg but as the track dried Lewis showed his class and battled through to pounce on a mistake from Nico Rosberg in the closing stages of the race.
Helped by the timing of the final safety car and his teammate making a crucial error, it certainly wasn’t Hamilton’s finest drive, but it was enough to win the World Championship for a third time
Rating out of ten: 8
2nd place – Nico Rosberg
After securing pole in a very wet Q2, Rosberg had a great chance to spoil Hamilton’s hopes of wrapping up his third world title this weekend however, his mistake late on in the race gifted his teammate the championship with three rounds still to go. Before, the mistake, Rosberg had been driving better than we had seen him all season. A bold move on Hamilton before the first pit stops and a commanding lead over Hamilton in the second stint made it seem as if Rosberg was on for his first race victory since Austria. However, Nico crumbled when it really mattered instantly evaporating everything he had worked so hard for that weekend.
Rating out of ten: 7.5
3rd place – Sebastian Vettel
After starting the race down in 14th place on the grid, Sebastian Vettel drove a brilliant race to finish 3rd. Vettel made quick progress up to 6th and he was one of the first to successfully switch to dry tyres, Vettel jumped Perez and moved up into 5th after the first round of pit stops. He made light work of the Red Bulls and just missed out on the top two. Great tyre preservation and being able to cut through the field quickly allowed Vettel to pick up his 6th consecutive podium.
Rating out of ten: 9
4th place – Max Verstappen
The Flying Dutchman proved once again why he is the most exciting young driver in Motorsport. A second fourth-place finish of the season promotes Max up into the top 10 in the drivers standings. After a brilliant qualify, Max struggled early on but in the second half of the race burned through the field after a Safety Car allowed Verstappen to go on a set of soft tyres till the end of the race. He comfortably held onto fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez.
Rating out of ten: 9.5
5th place – Sergio Perez
Moving on from the dramatic podium in Russia, Sergio put in a solid display in today’s race to finish 5th and further cement his ninth place in the Drivers championship. He couldn’t match the pace of teammate Hulkenberg after pitting for the dry tyres, instead in typical Perez fashion, he managed his second set of dry tyres (Medium) for over 20 laps and easily managed to keep the chasing McLaren’s and Red Bull’s behind. However, had he showed the pace of his teammate in his second stint, fourth place from this race could have been there for the taking. Still, it’s another outstanding drive from Sergio.He has now scored in 7 of his last 9 races.
Rating out of ten: 8.5
6th place – Jenson Button
Coming into the weekend, Honda announced a new upgraded power unit and it seemed to pay off in the race as the McLaren’s were not being completely out-dragged on the straights and Button could fight with Force India’s and Toro Rosso’s. By far, Jenson’s best race of the season he did benefit from other’s misfortunate and incidents but he managed his rubber to perfection and honestly 6th was the maximum Button could have extracted from this weekend.
Rating out of ten: 9
7th place – Carlos Sainz
After starting from the back of the grid, Sainz will be overjoyed to come away from the weekend with six points. A mistake in qualifying cost him any chance of starting with his teammate in the top 10 but the Spaniard soon rose up the field to within a couple of cars of Max, he battled with the McLaren’s and even made a brave move on Daniel Ricciardo, he failed to pass Button but came home in seventh to achieve his best result of the season. However, the race once again highlighted Sainz’s difficulties in respecting the pit lane speed limit. He picked up a five second time penalty (which he served under the Safety Car) which possibly cost him sixth place.
Rating out of ten: 8
8th place – Pastor Maldonado
For the third race running, Maldonado stayed out of trouble during the weekend to snatch points. The Venezuelan qualified down in 15th and largely was helped by other drivers getting involved in incidents, however, Pastor kept his nose clean and it’s the first time in his F1 career that he has scored points three races in a row. Let’s hope Pastor continues this great trouble free run of form.
Rating out of ten: 7
9th place – Felipe Nasr
After missing out on FP1 and FP2 been cancelled, Nasr was always going to be on the back foot, he greatly benefitted from others misfortune’s in the race and was lucky to finish 9th after being so far off the pace in qualifying and the race compared to his teammate. Felipe was only around a second quicker in qualifying than the fastest Manor.
Rating out of ten: 6
10th place – Daniel Ricciardo
It’s a race of what could have been for Daniel Ricciardo, the Aussie driver amazingly took the lead of the race when his teammate failed, he also lead the charge in FP3 and qualifying and had the conditions stayed when, Ricciardo could have secured his first win since the 2014 Belgium Grand Prix instead his hopes of scoring high points were ruined when the track dried out and Hulkenberg hit him at the end of the back straight. His late pit stop allowed him to pass Alonso for the final point on the final point.
Rating out of ten: 7.5
11th place – Fernando Alonso
Contact on the opening lap put Alonso to the back early on but thanks to various Safety Car’s he rose to as high as 5th but he struggled to manage his tyres and could have been affected by damage, he lost 10th to Ricciardo on the final lap, a truly disappointing weekend for Nando.
Rating out of ten: 7
12th place – Alexander Rossi
It’s always hard to rank the drivers in the slowest car, but finishing the race in the slowest car when other drivers couldn’t finish in quicker cars is one of the most important things a backmarker driver can do and that’s exactly what homeboy Alexander Rossi did in the race. 12th place equals the team’s best for the season and moves him ahead of Stevens in the drivers’ standings.
Rating out of ten: 7.5
The Retirements
Will Stevens, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean all retired with damage and mechanical failures early on so are not given a rating, likewise Kimi Raikkonen crashes into the barrier and although he rejoined the track he had to retire a few laps later. Another disappointing weekend for the Finn. Marcus Ericsson was on for a solid points finish until his Sauber pulled up on the main straight. Nico Hulkenberg suffered a front wing failure when overtaking Daniel Ricciardo. Another retirement for the German means he falls further behind teammate Perez. Finally, Kvyat crashed heavily in the final corner in the closing stages of the race throwing away points.
With some drivers putting in the performance of their career, others struggled and crumbled under pressure. They will have a big point to prove next weekend in Mexico.
