At last Formula One is back! Well, almost – before racing resumes at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, the final part of this column’s midseason review is focussed on the shining lights and disappointing letdowns among the constructors of 2015.
The best
Ferrari – P2, 236 points
Maurizio Arrivabene was criticised for being little more than a cigarette salesman when he took the reins at Ferrari, but his team management skills have proved integral to the team’s resurgence this year. Without him, the changes made by the outgoing management in 2014 could not have been converted into race wins this season.
Coupled with one of the sport’s best designers in James Allison, motorsport’s most famous team has set itself on a trajectory for success. What it has lacked in outright pace it has made up for in opportunism in a way you’d expect a seasoned team to do, and has made fewer mistakes under the pressure of having to fight for race wins than Mercedes.
With a few more horses under the bonnet, Ferrari could be a genuine threat.
Toro Rosso – P7, 31 points
What’s not to love about Toro Rosso? Its chassis is arguably the best of all but Mercedes, and its driver pairing is one of the most exciting of the field. What’s more, it is beating big sister Red Bull Racing despite operation on a fraction of the budget.
It’s target of fifth place in the constructors’ championship is being hampered by reliability problems, at least some of which lie out of its hands at the door of its power unit supplier Renault. But the seven-point gap to Force India in P5 is still within reach. STR has earned the title of the quiet achiever in 2015.
Need improvement
Mercedes – P1, 383 points
Runaway champions, yes, best car of the field, sure, strongest driver pairing in the sport, certainly – but make no mistake, Mercedes doesn’t have it all.
Mercedes’ strengths were built upon Ross Brawn, but without him cracks have begun appearing – tyre choices in Malaysia, Hamilton’s howler in Monaco, and Rosberg’s last pit stop in Hungary. It has left many to think, ‘This wouldn’t have happened under Ross’.
If Ferrari continues to find pace this season, these cracks will be ripe for exploitation if left unaddressed.
Williams – P3, 151 points
Williams predicted 2015 would be a dress rehearsal for a title tilt in 2016, but it is so far difficult to judge it on this criterion. It earnt points for having the tenacity to bounce back from a sluggish start to the season and from a couple of tough races at slow speed circuit, but counting against it was its slow-moving naivety when it found itself in a winning position at Silverstone.
Though its car is there or thereabouts most weekends, the big question for Williams is whether it has failed to capitalise on its 2014 advantages sufficient to outmanoeuvre its big-spending rivals in this regulation cycle.
The rest
Red Bull Racing – P4, 96 points
Blame for Red Bull Racing’s struggles is shared equally between itself and its troubled engine supplier Renault, but it has taken until the middle of the season to admit even a small amount of fault for its tumultuous 2015 season.
So that’s points off for the car and points off for its attitude, which has been deeply unbecoming of a four-time world championship team. It has a 55-point deficit to Williams in P3 if it is to make anything meaningful of this otherwise wasted season.
P9 – McLaren, 17 points
Even after the ever-stoic McLaren admitted that the pain caused by its reunion with Honda is stronger that it had ever imagined, it pushed the well-worn company line that it is all for the best.
Though few doubt that this works relationship won’t deliver success once the all-new chassis paired with an all-new power unit finally learn to like each other, two racing institutions of this magnitude should have delivered more than this.
Its goal to compete for podiums by the end of the year is lost, and its new target must be avoiding a repeat in 2016.
Honourable mention
Manor – P10, 0 points
It’s hard to judge Manor competitively given it’s competing with 2014 machinery, but its very presence in the paddock is testament to the fortitude of the team and the belief its management has in its potential.
Its future may be perpetually uncertain, but its pluckiness to prove that it belongs in Formula One, even in the face of Bernie Ecclestone publicly decrying its presence at the Australian Grand Prix, deserves a nod as one of the first half of the season’s good news stories.
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