Posted on 2nd January 2016
This season saw the Mercedes team retain their position in the Constructors Championship for the second consecutive year and showing their dominance all season long. From Australia to Abu Dhabi they blew their rivals away for the second successive year as they went onto retain both drivers' and constructors' championships in style.
The 2015 season saw the team accumulate more points than they did in 2014 despite the controversial double points rule; a fitting testament to the amazing work behind the scenes at base in Brackley and Brixworth.
The team's drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg piloted the W06 to glory once again and achieved a combined 16 victories from nineteen races. Unlike the 2014 season, the title race did not go down to the wire as Lewis Hamilton stormed to a third world championship and emulated his hero Ayrton Senna. For all the amazing highs there were a couple of lows but nothing can be taken away from their achievements.
Mercedes arrived in Australia full of confidence after a positive winter testing; Hamilton and Rosberg were excited to get the new Silver Arrows on track and continue their personal battle. Indeed they started the season as they finished the last, Hamilton grabbed pole with Rosberg completing the front row; that continued on Sunday as Hamilton won the first round of the season from Rosberg and Ferrari new boy Sebastian Vettel.
Round Two in Sepang was expected to produce a very similar result, but Ferrari had other ideas and shocked Mercedes as Vettel beat them to the chequered flag. The pace of the Ferrari in Malaysia left Mercedes astounded; with the team believing that they could be challenged this season.
However, normal service was resumed in China and Bahrain as Hamilton dominated both Grand Prix's to open out a championship lead. At the Spanish GP, the pressure was on Rosberg to deliver as he had finished the first four races on the podium but hadn't reached the top step as yet. That record was put right, Rosberg took his first pole of the year and on Sunday covered pole into victory with Hamilton following home.
The Monaco GP brought one of the most exciting moments of the 2015 season and it would leave Mercedes red faced. Hamilton had dominated from pole but in the latter stages, the virtual safety car was brought out after Max Verstappen crashed at Sainte Devote after trying to pass the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Hamilton was called in for fresh rubber as the actual safety car was now deployed, Rosberg and Vettel, who were running in second and third, stayed out. Hamilton rejoined behind both of them; he knew in his heart of hearts his chance to win in Monaco had gone.
“I've lost this race haven't I?†He muttered over team radio. Rosberg won and Hamilton came home third and the devastation on Hamilton's face was clear, Hamilton simply couldn't believe victory had been lost that in those circumstances.
Despite this, he was back on form in Canada; leading home a Mercedes 1-2, Austria was very much the same, a Mercedes domination but Rosberg was the victor this time around. Only 10 points separated the two in the championship at this stage. Round nine, Silverstone and home advantage to Hamilton. A pole position on home soil was followed by back to back victories at the British Grand Prix, after a perfectly executed decision from Hamilton to switch onto intermediate tyres at exactly the right time.
Hungary saw yet another Hamilton pole, Rosberg was behind and another Silver Arrows one-two was on the cards. Or was it? Off the line the Ferrari's got the jump on both Hamilton and Rosberg, further round the lap, Hamilton almost ran into Rosberg and had to take avoiding action into the gravel. What was going on? It was one of those very rare of days for the Mercedes team.
But their race went from bad to worse, Hamilton then damaged his front wing and Rosberg suffered a puncture whilst in second position. Bu both drivers would eventually finish sixth and eighth.
After the summer break, Mercedes were back on form in Spa where Hamilton led home Rosberg once again. Monza saw Hamilton take an amazing 11th pole from 12 races, 7 consecutive along the way, Rosberg couldn't live up to his team-mate pace on a Saturday. Or on a Sunday even, Hamilton dominated the Italian Grand Prix as Rosberg retired from third place with just a few laps to go.
However, was the victory going to stand? The FIA found that Hamilton's left rear tyre had been 0.03 psi lower than regulated. Despite all the debate over whether Mercedes should keep the victory or be disqualified, Hamilton did indeed keep hold of the victory; best of all he was now 53 points ahead of Rosberg with seven rounds remaining.
At the next round in Singapore, Hamilton had the chance to equal Ayrton Senna's record of eight pole positions on the bounce and to us it did seemed likely that Hamilton would equal it. But it wasn't to be. To everyone's surprise – even Mercedes themselves – they were more than a second off the pace, no one could put their finger on why Mercedes were struggling on Singapore's street circuit.
Worse was to follow, Hamilton retired from the race to record his first DNF of the season, Rosberg however did manage to salvage some points for himself and the team after finishing fourth. At Suzuka, Rosberg managed to grab only his second pole of the year, leaving Hamilton second on the grid. The two battled into turn 1 with Hamilton squeezing Rosberg off the track, Rosberg then dropped to fourth whilst Hamilton continued on in the lead and went onto win.
It didn't get much better for Rosberg in Russia, despite beating Hamilton to pole the German retired from the lead of the race with a stuck throttle, Hamilton took advantage of his team-mates misfortunes to win for the ninth time in 2015. Mercedes wrapped up their second constructor's title in a row which now meant more importantly for Hamilton that a win in Austin could now possibly give him the title.
With the US GP in Austin drenched in torrential rain all weekend, qualifying was affected so badly that the session was moved to Sunday. Rosberg took a third consecutive pole with Hamilton alongside. Into turn 1, Hamilton moved ahead of Rosberg, forcing him off the track, a replica of the incident at Suzuka. The two Mercedes – despite being overtaken by the Red Bull's in the early stages – re-passed and built up a substantial lead.
Rosberg was leading Hamilton with just a handful of laps to go, but all of a sudden his Mercedes lost traction out of turn 16 and Hamilton sailed passed. Hamilton crossed the line to win in Austin and with Rosberg beating Vettel to second he was crowned world champion for a third time.
The celebrations carried on to Mexico, returning to the calendar after a 23-year absence. This time around Rosberg not only took pole but held off Hamilton to win for the first time since Austria, the German revitalised after a difficult weekend in Austin.
Rosberg continued his fine form in Brazil, another pole to flag victory left fans wondering where this form was coming from. At the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Rosberg outperformed Hamilton in qualifying, beating the new world champion to pole by nearly four tenths, a sixth successive pole just one less than Hamilton's run earlier in the year.
Rosberg concluded his difficult year with a sixth victory of the season, Hamilton finished second to give Mercedes a record breaking twelve 1-2 finish, eclipsing the record they had set the previous campaign.
But all you can say is that the year belonged to Mercedes and to Hamilton especially. They completed showed just how dominant they are and heading into 2016, you can bet that they will continue this form; even if Ferrari could be right there to challenge them.
Lewis Hamilton – 381 points (1st in the drivers' championship)
What can you say? Hamilton has continued the form from the 2014 season. He has outperformed Rosberg once again by 59 points in the Championship and has out-qualified him twelve times to Rosberg's seven times. Hamilton has built upon his second world championship and deserves to be world champion this season.
Hamilton started his title defence off in the best possible way in the opening races with a dominant win in Melbourne, a second place finish in Malaysia and a second consecutive win in China. In the next few races, Hamilton won in Bahrain, Canada and his home race in Silverstone and scored points in Spain, Monaco and Austria.
Before the summer break, Hamilton scored points in Hungary in a race that saw him being outclassed by the Ferrari team and Hamilton battling his way through the grid to get points.
After the summer break, Hamilton continued the consistency that he showed in the first half of the season. Hamilton won in Belgium and Monza but retired in Singapore which was the only DNF he had all season. In the final stages of the season, he won Japan, Russia and Austin and secured in Austin his third world championship and equalled his hero Ayrton Senna in the process and finished behind his team mate Rosberg in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi who managed to show some consistency in the latter stages of the season.
All you can is that you see why Hamilton is a three times world champion and the driver of the 2015 season. His early season form was the key to his championship success, psychologically he was stronger than his team-mate which led to his confidence going sky high and believing in his ability. With 10 victories and 11 pole positions to add to his career statistics from this season, this then saw him passing his idol Ayrton Senna and possible 2016 championship rival Sebastian Vettel into third in the all-time list.
Heading into the 2016 season, his future at Mercedes secure after signing for another three years, the number 44 is still the driver to beat in Formula One and is the title favourite for the new year ahead.
Nico Rosberg – 322 points (2nd in the drivers' championship)
Many thought that with Rosberg losing the title fight to Hamilton last season, he would come back better than ever this season; but not in the manner that we all would have liked to see. Rosberg once again was outperformed in the Championship by 59 points and was out-qualified twelve times by Hamilton who upped his game this season.
The start of the season for Rosberg got off to a promising start with a second place finish behind his team mate in Melbourne, a third place finish in Malaysia and another second place finish in Malaysia. In the next few races, we saw Rosberg under pressure to perform as good as Hamilton even though he managed a second and third place finish in China and Bahrain.
But Spain and Monaco saw Rosberg fighting back and winning his first two races of the year in a dominant display where you could not discount Rosberg out of the title running as of yet. Before the summer break, Rosberg won again in Austria, scored two second places in Canada and Silverstone and an eighth place finish in Hungary.
After the summer break, we saw Rosberg finishing behind Hamilton in second place in Belgium and struggling in Monza where he finished seventeenth place. In the next few races, he managed a fourth place finish in Singapore where Hamilton retired and was back on the podium in Suzuka.
In the final stages of the season, Rosberg showed the consistency that won Hamilton his title; but it came too late for him. Rosberg retired in Sochi, finished second in Austin and won the final three races of the season in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
Overall, the 2015 season will go down as a disappointing year in Nico Rosberg's estimates. Particularly in the first half of the season when his qualifying form from 2014 has seemingly disappeared and he would only out-qualify team-mate Lewis Hamilton once in the opening 12 rounds.
His three wins in Spain, Monaco and Austria were not enough to stop Hamilton flying off into the distance and by the time Rosberg won again this season in Mexico, Hamilton had already wrapped up the title. But his three strong wins in the final three races showed that Nico could beat anyone on his day, but if he wants to be world champion in 2016; we will need to see more of those performances on a Sunday when it matters most.
In conclusion, the Mercedes team have had yet another brilliant season. Mercedes team have reaped the benefits of their long-term project and this has reflected in two dominant seasons in the sport where they have surpassed their own records in the process.
2015 saw Mercedes remain as the dominant force in Formula 1 with what some argue is the most dominant machinery assembled in the sport's history in the shape of the W06 Hybrid. Their performance advantage was as clear as daylight from as early as February this year during pre-season testing, when the car emerged miles ahead above the chasing pack's challengers.
In regards to their drivers, firstly Hamilton stepped his game this season and his form in qualifying in particular was a big step forward from the previous season. Even though he retired in Singapore, Hamilton rhe followed this up by a series of consecutive results that he relied on to keep himself on the path to achieving his third world title.
With Hamilton racking up more wins than Rosberg this season, to me this underlined Hamilton's sheer superiority over a race distance and this consistency allowed him to become world champion this season and he does thoroughly deserves the title as a result of all of his hard work.
In regards to Rosberg, many pundits and fans believed this season would show if Rosberg would be world champion after the disappointment of the previous season. With his performances this season, I believe he should be proud of what he has achieved but also disappointed that he didn't mount the challenge that he and his fans would have expected him to have.
Despite enjoying the reliability that his team mate also had over the course of the season, Hamilton has had the edge over him in races on Sundays where it matters most and now also has the edge over him over Saturdays as well and gives Rosberg a lot of food for thought heading into the winter break.
But Rosberg has been a credible rival to Hamilton this season but the simple fact is that he didn't do enough when it mattered most but Rosberg has shown that he has the skill, ability and the talent to fight for a championship and if everything can come together for him, he will be a worthy world champion in the near future without a shadow of a doubt.
What can we expect from the 2016 season from Mercedes? I see Mercedes being the firm favourites once again and the benchmark once more next season. This is due to the stability in the regulations, continuity in driver line ups, experience as front runners and being heavily involved in a championship battle with Ferrari which they managed to win.
As for Hamilton and Rosberg next season, both will be determined to raise their game further, with Hamilton wanting to retain his title and Rosberg wanting to clinch the title away from him and that'll only serve the team well. Will 2016 be yet another season where we see another close and challenging battle for the championship? Let's hope so.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
