Posted on 1st January 2016
This season saw the Ferrari team move up from fourth place in the Constructors Championship in 2014 to second place in a season that saw them back at the front where they belong.
The Ferrari team returned to the sharp end of proceedings in 2015, as a new look Maranello took three victories during the season and 13 podiums. While Mercedes remained the pre-eminent force, Ferrari have established themselves as the best-of-the-rest this year and look set to be significant players in next season's title race.
Heading into the season, Ferrari retained Kimi Raikkonen and signed four time Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel for the 2015 season. With a driver line up of experience and promise; many thought that Ferrari could just challenge just like they did many seasons ago for the spoils but they surpassed everyone's expectations in the process.
Melbourne started with a podium finish for Vettel in his first outing with the Scuderia; with many surprised and shocked at the leap they had made in a year. However, the first Ferrari victory of 2015 and Sebastian's first flag at Maranello came at Malaysia. It marked an end to a winless streak for the outfit dating back to May 2013 and the Spanish Grand Prix.
Vettel was sublime on the day and pulled off a two-stop strategy which was out of Mercedes' reach after a questionable strategic move saw both Hamilton and Rosberg stop early for fresh rubber. Vettel was composed and evidently, back to his best and seemed to have been revitalised driving for the Italian team.
Meanwhile, a strong start to the year indicated that Kimi Raikkonen was also back in form. Piloting a car designed by James Allison (the mastermind of his race winning E20 and E21 cars during his spell at Lotus); the components were in place for Raikkonen to shine in 2015.
A podium at Bahrain in a race where he posed the significant threat to Mercedes while his teammate faltered was a highlight in an otherwise difficult campaign. He would have to wait until Singapore before returning to the rostrum.
Meanwhile, Vettel emerged as an almost ever-present fixture on the podium. While he was unable to replicate the Mercedes-toppling performance of Malaysia in the following rounds and did slip behind in the title fight; he appeared in the top three in three of the next four rounds. This then denied a Mercedes 1-2 finish at Monaco following Hamilton's strategic blunder which cost him certain victory.
It was this type of consistency which teammate Raikkonen was lacking. In Canada, the Finn looked set for third place, with Vettel mired in the midfield following a dire Saturday due to ERS woes. However, a spin at the hairpin forced a strategic re-think and effectively handed Williams and Valtteri Bottas their first podium appearance of the campaign.
A first lap collision with Fernando Alonso in Austria proved another blot on the Finn's copy-book at a time when the team's 2016 driver line-up was being considered. Fortunately for the man voted by the fans as F1's most popular driver, Ferrari retained him for the 2016 season. The news came after one of his most promising drives of the season was curtailed by reliability woes which was the first to effect Ferrari in race trim all season robbed Raikkonen of second place behind eventual winner Vettel in Hungary.
But Kimi did finally deliver his second podium of the year at Ferrari's best race of the year. Singapore has so often been a happy hunting ground for Vettel, with the German having taken three previous victories there. He added a fourth triumph to the list and his third win of the year, on a weekend where Mercedes were mysteriously off colour. Vettel and Raikkonen capitalised, securing first and third respectively, after the former had taken pole on Saturday to clinch the first non-Mercedes powered pole position of the V6 Hybrid era.
Raikkonen did lose out in a fierce battle for the podium in Russia after he collided with fellow Finn Bottas on the last lap, following an optimistic lunge at turn four. He was issued a 20 second time penalty by the stwewards and indirectly gifted chief rivals Mercedes the pleasure of wrapping up the constructors title at Sochi.
But overall, Ferrari were untroubled in second place in the constructors and they climbed two places from 2014 therefore demoting both Red Bull and Williams. The dynamic between the teammates was productive all season long, albeit an easier relationship to manage when a championship title is not the prize for victory.
All credit for me goes to their new Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene for his efforts in reforming Ferrari and boosting the morale of a Ferrari team that was left on its knees after countless seasons of disappointment. 2015 was a giant step in the right direction as Ferrari look to end their current stint of title-less campaigns sooner rather than later.
Sebastian Vettel – 278 points (3rd in the drivers' championship.
Sebastian Vettel this season has shown us that he is back to his very best and showing that he is capable of delivering in a team that is not Red Bull. In his debut season for Ferrari, Vettel has outshone his team mate in the Championship by 128 points and also in qualifying 15 times to Raikkonen's four times.
The start of his first season with Ferrari got off to a great start with a third place finish in Melbourne which was then backed up with a stunning win in Malaysia that showed Vettel could challenge for the title this season. In the next few races, Vettel scored another three podium finishes in China, Spain and Monaco and point finishes in Bahrain, Canada and Austria.
Before the summer break, Vettel managed to achieve another podium finish in Silverstone and managed his second win of the season in Hungary with a dominant and spectacular performance that he dedicated to the brilliant Jules Bianchi who passed away sadly the weekend before the event.
After the summer break, Vettel struggled in Belgium but managed a stunning second place at Ferrari's home race in Monza and his third win of the season in Singapore which saw Ferrari once again picking up the spoils when Mercedes struggled. In the final stages of the season, Vettel showed his consistency scored podium finishes in Suzuka, Sochi, Austin, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi thereby ending his year in the best way possible going into the 2016 season.
Overall, Sebastian Vettel has made a seamless transition from Red Bull to Ferrari and has tackled the 2015 campaign with a new-found spring in his step. His three victories were taken in fine fashion and his consistency supported the headline results and demonstrated that 2014 was merely a one-off season in a car that did not reflect the talent that he has.
For me, Vettel has shown all his doubters wrong and has shown why he is a four times world champion of the sport and if Ferrari can get everything together and take the next step for 2016; we may see Vettel bringing back the title to Maranello and joining an exclusive club that only Michael Schumacher (his idol) is a part of.
Kimi Raikkonen – 150 points (4th in the drivers' championship)
With many believing that Raikkonen would take the fight to his experienced team mate in 2015, he was unable to string a run of results together and without the consistency nor raw pace of his new teammate, Raikkonen was quickly cut adrift of the leading protagonists.
Raikkonen has been outperformed in the Championship by 128 points and also in qualifying 15 times compared to him out-qualifying Vettel four times and even though there were glimpses of the driver we all know Kimi can be; it still wasn't enough to challenge Vettel on the track where it matters most.
The start of Kimi's season did not get off to a great start after having to retire the car in Melbourne but Raikkonen bounced back with a two consecutive fourth places in Malaysia and China and a great podium finish in Bahrain. In the next few races, Raikkonen scored points in Spain, Monaco and Canada and before the summer break scored another points finish at Silverstone and retired in Austria and Hungary.
After the summer break, he managed two consecutive points finishes in Belgium and Monza and scored his second podium of the season in Singapore just behind his team mate Vettel who won the race. In the final stages of the season, Raikkonen scored more points in Japan, Sochi, Brazil and Abu Dhabi; ending his season in the best way that he could.
Overall, there were times in the season that Raikkonen similarly appeared to be a reformed figure at times in 2015, with his drive in Bahrain inspiring confidence that the Flying Finn was back to his best. While he managed to fend off both Williams in the championship battle, it is fair to argue that this should not have been Kimi's fight.
With Ferrari seemingly considering a move to both Vettel and Raikkonen's preferred push-rod suspension in 2016, it will be fascinating to see how the Finn performs against Vettel in round two of their head-to-head. Even though he has been resigned for next season, I believe that Raikkonen was very lucky to be retained and I feel that it will be an important year for Raikkonen next season and he will need to show that he can beat Vettel as much as possible regularly if he wants to remain in the sport in 2017.
In conclusion, the Ferrari team have had a brilliant season. The team suffered their worst season in 2014 and won three races this season and Vettel achieving 13 podiums out of 19 races shows that they have been the team that have made the best improvement over a season and rightly so.
We have seen once again that Vettel has completely out-performed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen; which former driver Fernando Alonso did throughout the previous season. Being out-raced by a team-mate at most races is something Raikkonen will not have been used to. But Vettel has stamped down his authority at Ferrari despite Raikkonen at times showing that he is more than a match for his team mate.
But for me Vettel has been the star of Ferrari's season. He has showed why he is considered by many as the best driver on the current grid and showing once again that he can get himself into strong points finishes with an uncompetitive car that we all thought would be impossible to reach this season based on the 2014 season.
Heading into 2016, Ferrari have got the two best drivers on the grid and I do believe that Vettel and Raikkonen have their work cut out still trying to rebuild this team for the future; but the foundations have already been put in place.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
