Team-mate battles of 2015

[CNR]

F1 driver wins bid to drive in Melb GP
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/201...leW1AYQzecM.99

[jens]

Stevens (???) v Mr X. I don't know, who Mr X is going to be, but I think Mr X wins, unless he is a completely no-hoper unknown paydriver. Because I don't think Stevens is really very good. About on Chilton level based on feeder series evidence.

Ok, as the #2 has been confirmed, I'd still say Mr X, meaning Roberto Merhi. He has been pretty good in some feeder formula series. Formula 3 champion and top 3 in Formula Renault 3.5. Maybe not a future star, but a solid driver for F1.

[Tazio]

Seb will punish Kimi ?

[Tazio]

Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry

[rjbetty]

I wonder if we could bring this thread up race by race and assess the drivers. I know planetf1 like to do this. I'll go first:

Mercedes: Hamilton
Red Bull: Ricciardo - maybe kinda by default but no indication Kvyat could match or beat him.
Williams: Massa
Ferrari: Vettel - not a bad start for Sebby!
McLaren: Button - kinda by default, outqualifying KMag, but then it's kinda random in that car.
Force India: Hulkenberg - Kept his head down for much needed points. Perez less reliable.
Toro Rosso: Sainz - too close to call. Both impressed though Max was held back more by mistakes/issues.
Lotus: Grosjean
Sauber: Nasr by miles. 5th was amazing.
Manor: N/A

[jens]

I wonder if we could bring this thread up race by race and assess the drivers. I know planetf1 like to do this. I'll go first:

Mercedes: Hamilton
Red Bull: Ricciardo - maybe kinda by default but no indication Kvyat could match or beat him.
Williams: Massa
Ferrari: Vettel - not a bad start for Sebby!
McLaren: Button - kinda by default, outqualifying KMag, but then it's kinda random in that car.
Force India: Hulkenberg - Kept his head down for much needed points. Perez less reliable.
Toro Rosso: Sainz - too close to call. Both impressed though Max was held back more by mistakes/issues.
Lotus: Grosjean
Sauber: Nasr by miles. 5th was amazing.
Manor: N/A

Obviously nothing to add from me, there was not any completely unforeseen development in team-mate battles in Australia.

We didn't see a straight race battle of Massa and Bottas, and the Finn will come back strong. We haven't seen anything from Manor, also not in Alonso-Button duel.

The Toro Rosso pairing is still the one, about which I am most uncertain about. Both drivers are obviously talented. And I have to say the 17-year-old Max Verstappen really impressed me on his debut. Guess with every weekend I will be more and more jumping on his bandwagon that he really is the real deal, considering all the inexperience! But Sainz is no pushover and a good driver in itself. It can go either way this year, really. But Max is likely to have a steeper learning curve long-term!

[Tazio]

Obviously nothing to add from me, there was not any completely unforeseen development in team-mate battles in Australia.

We didn't see a straight race battle of Massa and Bottas, and the Finn will come back strong.

Have to disagree mate. They are calling V-Bot's injury a torn disc between the 3rd, and 4th lumbar vertebrae. That is somewhat of a generic term. More specifically he either has a herniated disc, or a ruptured disc. Even with the best treatment, a ruptured disc is not something that you should be driving an f-1race with only two weeks after the injury. If it is a small herniation, that is a different kettle of fish, although it really depends on how he responds to treatment. My guess is that he is going to be way less than 100%, and his injury is potentially much more consequential than Fred's. Tough break for dude, and he may have a mountain to climb in order to outscore Felipe this season. I wonder if they dare deputize Susie if VB can't bring it in Sepang?

[jens]

Well, one thing is sure. We have had some pretty weird injuries this season. Wish a good recovery to Bottas and hopefully it doesn't affect his driving form in (negative) way in the future.

[jens]

Taz, Bottas managed to come back and outrace Massa this time despite a bad start. Even though it was a very close fight to the finish! But it looks like for now Bottas is fine despite the injury.

Other than that - Verstappen is raising a few eyebrows. Though it is still early to tell whether he can beat Sainz over a full year, but his performance looks convincing. Also Max had strong race pace in Australia even though he had a car DNF.

Alonso got first one over Button. OK, they had a double DNF, but in the race Alonso was ahead till that point.

It is also interesting that Kvyat beat Ricciardo, but it looks like the Australian was suffering from serious brake issues. Let's see future races.
Ericsson surprised Nasr a bit in Malaysia. This is one inconsistent pairing, but Nasr should be the more talented one.

[AndyL]

Alonso got first one over Button. OK, they had a double DNF, but in the race Alonso was ahead till that point.

It was hard to compare Alonso's and Button's pace for most of the race because one or other of them was held up in traffic. But it was interesting that for a few laps just before Alonso retired and Button pitted for tyres, both were in clear air and Alonso was lapping a lot faster, like a second per lap. I guess either Alonso had preserved his tyres a lot better than Button, or he turned the engine up too much.