F1 2015 preview: Advantage Hamilton in dominant Mercedes

FORMULA ONE 2015

MERCEDES + RED BULL + WILLIAMS + FERRARI + MCLAREN + FORCE INDIA + TORO ROSSO + LOTUS + MANOR MARUSSIA + SAUBER

MERCEDES 

	F1 W06 Hybrid	GPs	Pole	Wins
44	Lewis HAMILTON (Gbr)	148	38	33 (2 championships)
6	Nico ROBSERG (Ger)	166	15	8

Dominant Mercedes remain well clear of the field which can only be good news for defending champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton won his second world title in November, six years after his first, and this season is a wonderful opportunity for him to ensure he does not have to wait quite as long between championships again. 
A third crown for Hamilton would put him level with his idol, the late Ayrton Senna - and, having seen off team-mate Nico Rosberg with a brilliant surge of form in the second of last season, the biggest danger to the Stevenage-born champ might just be himself.
After all, Hamilton's off-season has once again been dominated by stories about his personal life, most notably his split with his management team, Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment, and his latest break-up with pop-star Nicole Scherzinger. The last time Hamilton had the potential to be so distracted by external events, in 2011, he suffered his worst season in F1 - and, while the Englishman insists he is a lot more mature now, the door is open for Rosberg to exert pressure. 
Certainly, it feels as if the German needs a good start this year to heal the wounds of giving up such a strong position in the autumn of last year. Indeed, Rosberg's early-season form will surely determine just how competitive the Drivers' Championship actually is.  

RED BULL-RENAULT

	RB11	GPs	Pole	Wins
3	Daniel RICCIARDO (Aus)	69	0	3
26	Daniil KVYAT (Rus)	19	0	0

Coming just a year after joining the team as Sebastian Vettel's second-in-command, Australian Daniel Ricciardo is now the undoubted number one driver at Red Bull Racing. It is a fully merited position for the way Ricciardo thoroughly out-raced four-time world champion Vettel with the German consequently seeking refuge at Ferrari, one year short of completing his contract.
Joining Ricciardo instead is highly-rated 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kvyat who impressed so much in his rookie season with sister team Toro Rosso that he got the big call from Christian Horner. Now, of course, Ricciardo is the hunted, more experienced driver - but, while Vettel seemed quick to find faults when things were not going his way, the Aussie's laid-back personality should stand him in good stead for another season in which any Grand Prix wins will again come against the odds. For Kvyat, the move might have come a little too early - though you never quite know and his record against Ricciardo will provide a source of early-season fascination. 

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES 

	FW37	GPs	Pole	Wins
19	Felipe MASSA (Brz)	212	16	11
77	Valtteri BOTTAS (Fin)	38	0	0

Williams enjoyed their finest season for many a year in the last campaign, deservedly taking third place in the Constructors' Championship ahead of Ferrari and McLaren. 
The Grove-based team finished on a particular high as Felipe Massa - seventh in the Drivers' standings - and Valtteri Bottas - fourth - gave the team a first double podium since Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber finished second and third at Monaco in 2005. As a result, it was no surprise to see this talented partnership retained for 2015.
But one thing that will irk Bottas in particular, given his six podium finishes last season, was the lack of a Grand Prix victory - and so Williams might even be prepared to accept a greater level of inconsistency if their points total happened to feature a first race win since Pastor Maldonado's rather random success in 2012, and only a second since 2004.

FERRARI 

	SF15-T	GPs	Pole	Wins
5	Sebastian VETTEL (Ger)	139	45	39 (4 championships)
7	Kimi RAIKKONEN (Fin)	213	16	20 (1 championship)

Flailing Ferrari have brought four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on board in a bid to restore former glories - but, despite his quadruple between 2010 and 2013, the German himself also needs to fix his reputation somewhat. After all, Vettel only joined the Italian giants for the 2015 season having been shocked to find Daniel Ricciardo not to be quite as acquiescent a team-mate as fellow Australian Mark Webber.
At least Vettel should have the beating of his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen if last year is anything to go by. The Finn's best moments came from his often amusing radio communication with the team as, on the track, he totally failed to live anywhere near up to a reputation mainly built on him being a former Ferrari world champion in his first spell at Maranello.
In fairness to Ferrari, testing has gone better than expected and there has been some much-needed change at the top of the organisation. New president Sergio Marchionne has brought in a new team principal - with Maurizio Arrivabene arriving to replace the sacked Marco Mattiacci. Nevertheless, the team's ambitions are as modest as they ever have been - and the stated target of two race wins hardly inspiring stuff for the Tifosi.

MCLAREN-HONDA 

	MP4-30	GPs	Pole	Wins
14	Fernando ALONSO (Esp)	236	22	32 (2 championships)
22	Jenson BUTTON (Gbr)	268	8	15 (1 championship)
20	Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Den)	19	0	0

Off the pace until at least May, it would be fair to say that last season's woes for McLaren have continued into this year despite (or perhaps because of) a change in engine supplier to Honda. 
Stalwart Jenson Button has even admitted the Woking outfit could be right at the back of the grid for this weekend's season opener in Melbourne if struggling new boys Manor Marussia do not run. Such an outcome would be a shame for the Frome flyer, a well-liked character and the most experienced driver in the paddock, who only just saved his seat in the sport before Christmas after some last ditch negotiating.
Eventually, once McLaren get going, the Briton will be joined by Spaniard Fernando Alonso following his surprise move to reacquaint himself with a team he left under a cloud in 2007. His second debut will not happen just yet, though, as Alonso has been ruled out of the Australian Grand Prix following a high-speed collision in testing. It actually turned into a rather odd incident with conflicting reports over the extent of the injury and, even now, there remain a few unanswered questions.
Genuine mystery also surrounds the reason behind Alonso's return to McLaren, described rather cynically in some quarters as a marriage of convenience. After all, even if the two-time world champion had become frustrated with so regularly outperforming Ferrari, he has effectively swapped one team struggling to live up to its glorious reputation for another currently doing even worse. Alonso and McLaren is definitely a relationship worth watching.

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES 

	VJM08	GPs	Pole	Wins
11	Sergio PEREZ (Mex)	77	0	0
27	Nico HULKENBERG (Ger)	77	1	0

Moored in mid-table since 2008, it is difficult to know what Force India can do to improve their fortunes. They have the strongest engine in Mercedes and a decent driver line-up has been retained - but, while they challenged McLaren for fifth throughout the whole of 2014, two double retirements in Hungary and United States ultimately left the Silverstone-based outfit in sixth place for the third time in four years.
Yet more ups and downs can be expected in the next eight-and-a-half months with the best efforts of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg restricted by an increasingly parlous financial situation. Perez, in particular, is capable of a searing lap which can propel him up the grid, while Hulkenberg was a consistent points scorer throughout the whole of the last campaign, missing out only on four occasions.  

TORO ROSSO-RENAULT 

	STR10	GPs	Pole	Wins
33	Max VERSTAPPEN (Net)	0	0	0
55	Carlos SAINZ Jr (Esp)	0	0	0

Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso have taken their much-vaunted youth policy to extremes this winter with 17-year-old Dutchman Max Verstappen hitting the headlines after becoming the youngest ever Formula One driver. Undoubtedly talented, Verstappen won six successive races in the Formula Three championship on his way to finishing third in the series overall last season.
But, frankly, Formula One is another level of pressure again - and, as BBC writer Andrew Benson points out, the Red Bull talent stream is a cut-throat business with many decent drivers failing to make the grade. Nevertheless, others - such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and, most recently, Daniil Kvyat - have thrived, and Verstappen will be determined to add his name to that still-fledgling list. 
Verstappen's team-mate, Carlos Sainz Jr, was initially overlooked in the Dutchman's favour - and only won a seat when Kvyat was promoted to the main Red Bull team. Such an occurrence was hardly a vote of confidence in the Spaniard who - while being only 20 years old himself - could do with some strong early performances to quieten the hype surrounding his teenage colleague.

LOTUS-MERCEDES 

	E23 Hybrid	GPs	Pole	Wins
8	Romain GROSJEAN (Fra)	64	0	0
13	Pastor MALDONADO (Ven)	77	1	1

Having dropped back from fourth place in the Constructors' Championship in 2012 and 2013 to eighth last year, Lotus should return to a more competitive mid-table placing this time following their switch to Mercedes engines.
It could perhaps be higher than mid-table - but such a result would rely on the most crash-happy pair in F1 cleaning up their act. Actually, that is perhaps not too fair on Romain Grosjean who got much better at keeping his nose out of trouble, especially in the second half of last season. 
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about team-mate Pastor Maldonado who even has a website dedicated to his scrapes. Indeed, in many ways, it was quite refreshing to hear that the Venezuelan had crashed out of the final pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Clearly, the start of the new season was not far away.

MANOR MARUSSIA-FERRARI 

	MR03	GPs	Pole	Wins
28	Will STEVENS (Gbr)	1	0	0
98	Roberto MERHI (Esp)	0	0	0

The fact that the Marussia name lives on at all in Formula One is a testament to the efforts of everyone at Manor Motorsport and others who were not prepared to allow the team to die without a fight. Considering they were only cleared to race earlier this week, doubts remain over whether the two cars will actually make it on the grid in Melbourne.
Moreover, when they do finally compete, it would be amazing if they were not anything but dead last - at least, though, they have made it this far. A baptism of fire awaits Essex lad Will Stevens and his Spanish team-mate Roberto Merhi but the rookies will hopefully be able to gain something out of the experience. If nothing else, the pair will have nothing to lose with Merhi also only actually announced as racing for the team earlier this week.

SAUBER-FERRARI   

	C34	GPs	Pole	Wins
9	Marcus ERICSSON (Swe)	16	0	0
12	Felipe NASR (Brz)	0	0	0

It went right to the wire - but, at the 11th hour, former Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde agreed to drop his legal action against Sauber. All the way through the saga, it had looked as if the opposite might be the case especially after judgements this week from the Victoria Supreme Court in Australia and an appeals hearing found the Dutchman had a case when he said he had been promised a seat at Sauber for 2015.
Nevertheless, van der Garde's decision to move on belatedly gives the team he nearly joined a chance to get on with what is an important campaign. Coming off the back of a dreadful 2014, which saw the Swiss outfit finish with nul points for the first time ever, 2015 can surely only be an improvement.
Coincidentally another former Caterham driver, Marcus Ericsson, and rookie Felipe Nasr have been given the task of restoring Sauber to a place of mid-table respectability. But, even without any further distractions from van der Garde, it looks a tough ask.

2015 RACE CALENDAR
Sky will broadcast all 20 races live on its dedicated channel (Sky 407). Where Sky is listed in the column below, the satellite channel has exclusively live coverage and the BBC will only show extended (delayed) highlights. The BBC has live coverage of 10 races where its name is listed below, notably omitting Monaco in May.

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
15 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix
29 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix
12 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix
19 April	BBC	Bahrain Grand Prix
10 May	Sky	Spanish Grand Prix
24 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix
7 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix
21 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix
5 July	BBC	British Grand Prix
19 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
26 July	BBC	Hungarian Grand Prix
23 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
6 September	Sky	Italian Grand Prix
20 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
27 September	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
11 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
25 October	Sky	United States Grand Prix
1 November	Sky	Mexican Grand Prix
15 November	BBC	Brazilian Grand Prix
29 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix