Posted on 17th August 2015
We are half way through the 2015 season and what a season we have been treated to so far! Even though the technical regulations haven't changed from the previous year; we have seen engine manufacturer Honda return to the sport with the McLaren team, Renault still struggling to catch up to their rivals Mercedes and also finding themselves in a “media war†with the Infiniti Red Bull Racing team. But this hasn't stopped the drivers or the fans enjoying some thrilling and exciting racing where it matters, which is on the track.
The season so far has seen the Mercedes team and its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg (mostly Hamilton) dominate at the front of the grid but along the way we have seen the best young drivers make their mark and sign of intent in the sport, a few moments of controversy and surprise that have made the first half of the 2015 F1 season truly magical to watch!
10. Nasr's F1 debut in Australia
With Sauber dropping their former drivers Esteban Guiterrez and Adrian Sutil at the end of the last season for an experienced yet young driver line up of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr; many thought the team were making a huge mistake and taking a risk that they didn't need to take.
But at his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, rookie Nasr after a fantastic drive despite what was going on surrounding the Sauber team (which we will discuss further on in this article) secured an fifth place finish in Melboune which was a fantastic achievement for him and also taking his first points in Formula One and also Sauber's first points of the season.
He then went on to score points over the course of the season so far again in China and Monaco and Nasr has achieved the impossible and impressed everyone with not just how quickly he got to grips with driving the C34, but also showing that he is very well a potential talent of the future too with his performances so far this season.
9. Mercedes make the wrong call on Hamilton's strategy in Monaco
At the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was leading comfortably and shown all weekend that he was the fastest driver on the grid out there. However, Hamilton decided to pit for fresh tyres just as the Safety Car came out due to an incident on the track; with Hamilton and the Mercedes team believing they had enough time in their pocket to make the pit stop and retain the lead of the race.
As a result of this lost the lead of the race to his team mate Nico Rosberg and finished in third place behind Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. After the race had finished, many fans on social media such as Twitter expressed their confusion, bewilderment and disbelief at what had just happened in the race.
Like them, I was slightly confused as to why Hamilton and the Mercedes took that call especially considering that they didn't have enough time in their pocket and this left the team and Hamilton having to face the media and answering questions as to why they took this decision in the first place.
It later turned out that Hamilton himself wanted to make the pit stop and made the decision believing that the Mercedes team had given him the correct information regarding the gap he had to his team mate on the track; even though it transpired that there was a fault with their equipment.
8. German GP being cancelled this year
It was announced after the Australian Grand Prix that the German Grand Prix would not appear on this year's calendar after it failed to negotiate a deal with the FIA and FOM regarding the financial commitment to host the Grand Prix.
This is the first time since 1960 that a German Grand Prix would not take place on the calendar and it was a real shame to have to report the news for Driving For Pleasure when the announcement was made. But the future of the German GP still unclear; I really hope they are able to resolve the issues that have hindered it being hosted this year and are back on next year's calendar where it truly does belong.
7.Performances of Carlos Sainz Jr
With Carlos Sainz Jr winning the Formula Renault 3.5 championship last season, he was rewarded with the prize of a F1 race seat with Toro Rosso this season and has shown this season that the decision was correct to promote him to Formula One.
Sainz Jr scored his first points of the season at his first F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix with a ninth place finish after a fantastic drive. He then backed this in Malaysia with an eighth place finish. He then managed to have a great home race in Barcelona by scoring in the points again and then again at the next race in Monaco.
But even though Sainz Jr hasn't scored since Monaco, he has shown that when he has the car underneath him, he can deliver just as good as anyone else on the track. But there is no doubt that he is a potential talent of the future and has the potential to only get better as the season goes on and also in the future too.
6. Alonso scoring McLaren-Honda's first points at the British Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso scoring his first points of the season and also the first points for the McLaren-Honda partnership at the British Grand Prix was a welcome relief for many McLaren fans such as myself.
With Alonso having a troubling time before the season began with a bizzare incident during pre-season testing that saw him sit out the first Grand Prix in Australia on doctor's orders; things haven't been smooth sailing for Alonso and McLaren-Honda. With problems with the car and also with the Honda engine in their first season together; Alonso hasn't had the car to show the driver we know he is.
But at the British Grand Prix after a challenging drive through the field; Alonso managed to score McLaren-Honda and his first points of the season with a tenth place which shows that things are steadily going in the direction that McLaren-Honda need to be; even though there is still a long way for them to go to get back to competitive ways still.
5. Sauber driver contract situation
After deciding not to renew the contracts of Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil for the 2015 season, Sauber decided to bring in an young but also experienced line up of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr this season (as well as their much needed sponsorship money each driver brought with them).
However, it transpired at the Australian Grand Prix that van der Garde had launched legal proceedings against the team in January which Sauber confirmed to the media that a Swiss arbitration tribunal had ordered the team allow him to take part in the season-opening Australian GP.
At this point, former driver Sutil was also rumoured to be taking legal action against the Sauber team himself; which meant that if van der Garde and Sutil are legally allowed to race for Sauber and their contracts stood, this will then impact their current driver line up of Ericsson and Nasr who also have contracts this season and have provided Sauber with much needed sponsorship that they need to compete in the sport as a result of securing their services.
If that would have happened, Ericsson and Nasr would also have a legal case themselves against the team; thereby adding to the legal mess Sauber was already involved in at that time.
However, the Sauber team argued over the course of their case that running van der Garde in their car at such short notice and without adequate preparation is unsafe.
The saga continued when it was announced that the Sauber F1 Team formally lodged an appeal against the Supreme Court of Victoria regarding running van der Garde at the Australian GP. It then remained unclear and uncertain what the next steps between the two parties will be before the start of the first
practice session on Friday afternoon in Melbourne.
At this point, Sauber had three contracted drivers to race for them this weekend and van der Garde had limited time available to gain an FIA super licence in order to race this weekend as he would like to.
Van der Garde and his legal team's next steps was to get a court order that enforces the team to prepare a car ready for him with court proceedings resuming the next morning. It was then announced that both parties agreed an financial settlement out of court and bringing the case to an end at last. It is rumoured that van der Garde will receive £10.8m from Sauber as compensation which is a large sum of money from a team that doesn't have a big budget in the first place.
I think the F1 world was glad that the case between Van der Garde and Sauber has been resolved legally, mutually and out of the public spotlight to both of their satisfactions. I will still argue today that van der Garde and his legal team confidently presented their case professionally, while Sauber appeared to hide the facts from the start in order to stall for time and deny him the legal right that he was found to have had.
Personally, the reaction on social media towards van der Garde was been unjust and if anyone should be blamed for me, it is Sauber who shouldn't have got themselves in the mess in the first place. With the situation now being resolved, let this be an important lesson to Sauber and to make sure that when conducting a contract between a driver and themselves; that there is a clause that allows them to not resign a driver for whatever reason and not get themselves into the mess again.
4. Verstappen finishing in fourth place in Hungary
After seeing Max Verstappen perform in the FIA European F3 Championship last season, I knew straight away that he was a talent of the future and deserved to be in Formula One in the near future.
But it was announced last season that Toro Rosso had signed him for the 2015 season; thereby sparking speculation as to how the youngest rookie in the sport would perform in his debut season in the sport. But Verstappen has shown his doubters wrong with his performances this season on the track.
Verstappen should have scored points at his debut race in Australia but had to retire the car. But at the next race in Sepang, he scored his first points in Formula One with an seventh place finish; thereby making him the youngest rookie in the sport's history to score points in the sport which just speaks for how talented the Dutchman really is.
He has since managed to score points in Austria and more recently with a fantastic fourth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix in a fantastic race which saw many drivers losing their heads while he kept his composure and was rewarded with a brilliant result for his hard work.
Already Verstappen has shown why Toro Rosso has signed him for this season and there is no doubt nor reason why Verstappen will just continue to build on what he has already achieved so far in the sport and will be a race winner and become a world champion of the sport; I seriously believe that he will achieve this sooner rather than later.
3. Kvyat's first podium at Hungary
After Sebastian Vettel's shock decision at the Japanese Grand Prix weekend to announce he was leaving the team to join Ferrari, Daniil Kvyat was given the chance to be promoted into Vettel's vacant seat and build upon the promise he had shown in his debut season last year.
Fast-forward to 2015 and there is no doubt that Kvyat hasn't had the season he would have liked. Compared to his team mate Daniel Ricciardo; he has suffered incredible bad luck with the RB11 alongside trying to fit into a new team; which sparked many debates within the paddock and on social media that maybe Kvyat was promoted too soon and could not hack it at the big time.
But over the course of the season, Kvyat has powered through these problems professionally on the track and also within the media and as a result of his hard work, he managed to achieve his debut podium in the sport with a second place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix and reminding the paddock just how talented he is.
With his under his belt, I believe this will give Kvyat the confidence to push in the second half of the season and build upon what he has achieved so far in what has been a mixed season so far for him.
2. Vettel scoring his first Ferrari win at the Malaysian Grand Prix
With Sebastian Vettel surprising us all at the Japanese Grand Prix last season with his shock decision to leave Red Bull for Ferrari; many wondered if Vettel had made the right decision (myself included).
But as we have seen in a fantastic season for him, Vettel managed to secure his first podium finish with the Ferrari team at their first Grand Prix together in Melbourne and then backed it up with a fantastic win at the Malaysian Grand Prix; Ferrari's first win since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.
Vettel showed that weekend that making the switch to Ferrari was the best thing he could have done and this has been reflected in the first half of the season with seven podium finishes already this season and also another win under his belt at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
1. Paying respect to the late Jules Bianchi throughout the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend
With the sad news that Jules Bianchi sadly passed away on the 18th July as a result of his injuries sustained from the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, the F1 world was in shock and sadness as we approached the Hungarian Grand Prix.
With the F1 world and community paying tributes to the well liked Frenchman over the course of the weekend, I would say that the picture next to his paragraph says it all. Even though the teams and the drivers battle each other for the greatest prize in motorsport; when situations like this happen; they unite, stand by and support each other through difficult times.
Seeing the drivers in the picture above for me shows them paying the ultimate and most fitting tribute they could make to one of their own; reflecting just how close the F1 community really are.
As well as the drivers paying a very moving tribute to Jules; we also saw a great race that you really needed to concentrate on and saw Formula One at its very best and its what Jules would have wanted as well. And this was reflected on the podium celebration where Vettel, Kvyat and Ricciardo looked up to the sky with their trophies and dedicated it to Jules' memory.
All I say is that everyone at Driving for Pleasure is still thinking of the Bianchi family during this difficult time and we will always remember Jules for the fantastic driver that he really was and is now our big shining star in the sky that we will all deeply miss.
But what was your favourite moment of what so far in the 2015 season? It was extremely hard to choose from a season that has far so far produced some amazing races that has kept fans glued to their screens; yet as also reminded us of the ultimate sacrifice that each driver takes every weekend they get into the car as well.
With only a few days until the second half of the 2015 Formula One season resumes from its summer break at the next race at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit; will we see more on track battles, controversies, surprises and shocks in store ahead? Bring on the second half of the season!
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
