5 No. 2 Drivers Most Likely to Beat Their Teammates in 2015
Officially, the No. 2 driver in Formula One is a thing of the past. World champion Lewis Hamilton is equal with Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo starts off on level pegging with Daniil Kvyat, and Sebastian Vettel gets exactly the same opportunities as Kimi Raikkonen.
It's the same for every pair of team-mates from one end of the pit lane to the other.
But unofficially the No. 2 is alive and well, albeit in a different form than years gone by. While No. 1 and No. 2 contracts are no longer signed, we do sometimes see one driver appearing to be the favoured son. Even when this doesn't happen, each constructor usually has a driver who is considered most likely to win the battle within the team.
For example, while Williams would never openly favour Valtteri Bottas, he has to be considered the unofficial No. 1 in the team as he appears to be the better driver. Felipe Massa is therefore the unofficial No. 2.
But could Massa actually beat Bottas? Of course, he could—as could all the other No. 2s.
Here, we look at the five second drivers who are most likely to beat their team-mates in 2015.
How We Determined the No. 2 Drivers
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This writer and colleagues Matthew Walthert and Oliver Harden got together to determine who the unofficial No. 2 is for each team. This proved relatively straightforward—we all agreed on eight of the nine announced lineups.
Nico Rosberg, Daniil Kvyat, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Pastor Maldonado received unanimous "backing" as unofficial No. 2s.
Only Sauber, due to the car being painted in the colours of Felipe Nasr's sponsor, produced a split decision. But two votes went to Nasr, so we'll work with him as the second driver.
Felipe Massa
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The final standings for 2014 show Valtteri Bottas comfortably beat Felipe Massa by 186 points to 134. Data on F1Fanatic shows the qualifying battle was one-sided, 13-6 in favour of the Finn.
Bottas also scored more podiums, finished more races and was, over the course of the season, the better driver.
However, closer examination of the figures reveals Massa scored more points than Bottas in the second half of the season. Taking double points at the last race out of the equation, it was 86-80 to Massa in the final nine grands prix.
Both finished every one of those nine races.
Massa was a title contender at his peak, never quite making it into the elite group of stars but still proving to be a fast, capable driver. Though his head dropped alongside Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, it has bounced back up in the more relaxed, fair environment at Williams.
Bottas looks like a star of the future, and he should come out on top. But Massa showed toward the end of last season that he still has enough pace to give his team-mate a run for his money.
If he can avoid incidents like his clumsy first-corner crash in Germany last year, he could give us a shock.
Daniil Kvyat
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Daniel Ricciardo pushed his way closer to the top echelon of F1 drivers with a surprisingly brilliant 2014. Despite looking like he'd been promoted as a comfortable No. 2 for Sebastian Vettel before the season began, the Australian made his mark from the first race by qualifying ahead of the German.
By the end of the year he had won three grands prix and beaten his illustrious four-time world champion team-mate in the standings.
Ricciardo showed us how good he is but also taught us to never underestimate a Toro Rosso graduate. Especially one who, in his first year in F1, looked like a match for Jean-Eric Vergne—a man Ricciardo only narrowly defeated in their time together.
So good was Kvyat's rookie year that he made the top 10 in Autosport's writers and team principals' end-of-year rankings.
The Russian is not a finished product, and if he can't find a consistent rhythm, he'll probably be well-beaten.
But if Red Bull can find a way to translate his obvious talent into race results, Ricciardo will definitely have something to think about.
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Nico Rosberg
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Nico Rosberg took the title fight with Lewis Hamilton all the way to the final race of year in 2014 but ultimately fell short. The final result showed Hamilton on 384 points and Rosberg on 317—both with 16 scores from 19 grands prix.
The difference between the pair was race craft. Hamilton was simply in a different league to Rosberg on Sundays, winning 11 races to his team-mate's five. Though he came out on top in qualifying, the German too often failed to convert pole positions.
We'd expect what happened last year to happen again in 2015. Hamilton is the better driver, and across a 20-race season, he should come out in front.
But last season was ample demonstration that, even if one driver performs quite a bit better, things can still remain close if the team is light-years ahead of the competition.
Especially if the weaker race driver tends to put it on pole more often than not.
Rosberg has two chances to beat Hamilton. Either he has to improve his race driving a little so more of those pole positions equal race wins, or he needs to have better reliability than his rival.
Both could happen, so we can't write him off.
Kimi Raikkonen
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After the dismal year he endured in 2014, it may seem foolish to think Kimi Raikkonen could beat any decent team-mate this year.
A four-time world champion? No chance.
But that four-time champ, Sebastian Vettel, is coming off the worst season in his own career. He's also still integrating into a team which Raikkonen has been at for a year already—so there may be a window of opportunity for the Finn.
A large factor in Raikkonen's poor showing in 2014 was, per ESPN, the front end of the car. Highly sensitive to setup, he likes the nose of the car to be highly responsive—the F14 T's was anything but.
However, NBC Sport reports he is happier with the way the SF15-T handles.
Raikkonen was one of the most impressive drivers in the field in his younger days; his natural talent was as high as anyone he faced.
It would be fair to say he's not the driver he once was—but even at 35, he still has enough in his tank to spring a surprise and ruin Vettel's year.
Felipe Nasr
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Marcus Ericsson did not impress during his rookie year with Caterham in 2014, but he acquired a seat further up the grid thanks to his substantial sponsorship package.
Per Ian Parkes in The Independent, he brings around £10-12 million, the same sum provided by Sauber team-mate Felipe Nasr. The Brazilian is a rookie, stepping up to F1 from GP2.
Nasr never truly came across as a superstar in the three years he spent in the series, but he was on the right side of average. Though he only became a race winner in his third season, he was a regular podium visitor and twice a title contender.
It took Ericsson less than half a season to taste GP2 champagne, but he only won three times in four years. Though also on the good side of average, he never looked even close to mounting a title charge.
On talent, Nasr looks a touch ahead. Ericsson, though, has more experience.
This duel is likely come down to the odd points-finish here or there—the driver who happens to be in the right place at the right time will probably come out on top.
Nasr has just as much chance of being that man as Ericsson does.
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