10 Issues at Halfway Stage of 2015 Formula 1 Season
With relatively stable regulations, the 2015 Formula One season was billed as a continuation of 2014.
And in many ways, that has been the case.
Mercedes remain the team to beat, with Lewis Hamilton continuing to maintain his performance advantage over team-mate Nico Rosberg. Williams are still at the sharp end of the grid, and Red Bull and Renault continue to struggle to see eye-to-eye.
Kimi Raikkonen is still flattering to deceive, and McLaren, despite a change of engine partner, remain as pitiful as ever.
While the on-track action has been substandard compared to last season, there have been plenty of themes to follow over the course of the opening nine races.
And as F1 begins to settle into its unusually long summer break, here are 10 talking points from the first half of the season.
The Rise and Rise of Lewis Hamilton
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Lewis Hamilton has been a joy to watch over the first half of 2015.
Stimulated by his second world championship triumph in 2014, and presented with "the best car I've driven"—as he told the Independent's Ian Parkes—by Mercedes, he has built upon the form he showed in the latter stages of last season to emerge as the most complete driver in Formula One.
While his record of eight pole positions and five victories has reinforced his supreme speed, what has distinguished Hamilton's 2015 campaign from his previous eight in F1 has been the moments of disappointment.
Or rather, his reaction to those moments.
Previously a temperamental, volatile performer—someone who would subconsciously let a single afternoon dictate an entire season—Hamilton has cut the emotional cord to develop a certain mental resilience, allowing him to remain unmoved in the midst of difficulty.
Beaten fair and square by Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, only a fortnight after leading a Mercedes one-two? No worries. Denied a near-certain win in Monaco by his own team? Ancient history.
An untidy, error-riddled afternoon in Austria? An innocent off day. Jumped off the line by the Williams' at Silverstone? Stay patient, stay calm and the win will come.
For every question hanging over Hamilton in the early months of 2015, there has been a convincing answer.
At 30, and with his medium-term future secure, Hamilton has shown signs of building the team around him, with his increased maturity and self-assurance particularly evident in the British Grand Prix, where his instinctive pit call in changeable conditions cemented victory.
It was a measure of how far he has come and proof that this is an athlete at the peak of his powers.
The Ups and Downs of Nico Rosberg
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In sport, the end result is generally far more important than the performance.
Yet in the current era of Formula One, in which the Mercedes drivers are almost certain to finish first and second each weekend, the balance between the product and the process is considerably finer.
And although Nico Rosberg's ability to record strong, consistent results is almost unrivalled—he and Lewis Hamilton are the only drivers to reach the podium in every race thus far—the German's performances have fluctuated wildly on occasion, undermining his championship challenge.
His victories in Monaco and Austria, for very different reasons, felt like breakthrough moments for Rosberg and potential turning points in the title race, the type of moments that, at the end of the season, are pinpointed as those where the crown was won and lost.
But his failure to capitalise on those results in the subsequent events in Canada and Britain respectively, where he lived in Hamilton's shadow, harked back to his performances in the first four races, when he was very much a peripheral figure.
Much of Rosberg's inconsistencies, you suspect, have been down to the W06 Hybrid, which despite winning all but one race thus far has proven slightly more troublesome than its predecessor when it comes to finding the sweet spot.
Both Mercedes drivers have discussed their difficulties in finding a set up for the chassis at various points this year, with Hamilton better equipped to mould his driving style to the demands of the car.
This explains why Rosberg's form has improved as the season has progressed and as Mercedes gain a greater understanding of the W06. But to make the transition from race winner to world champion and threaten Hamilton as much as 2014, Rosberg needs to make further improvements.
Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari Exceeding Expectations
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Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari was a partnership that, in theory, seemed so wrong but felt so right.
The German had slaughtered the Prancing Horse throughout his four title-winning campaigns with Red Bull Racing between 2010 and 2013 and the prospect of him replacing Fernando Alonso as Ferrari's main focus—especially after his lacklustre 2014 season—was surreal.
Vettel, though, has been a revelation, already moulding the most political of teams in his image and reaching the podium in all but three of the nine races thus far.
His surprise victory in Malaysia, the first win for team and driver under the V6 turbo regulations, was the obvious highlight.
The most impressive races of his season, however, were his fightback through the field in Canada and his opportunistic podium finish at Silverstone, which offered insights into how strong the understanding between Vettel and Ferrari is at this early stage in their relationship.
Fifty-nine points behind Lewis Hamilton at the midpoint of the season, the title is almost certainly out of reach for Vettel's Ferrari in 2015, but the signs are promising for future success.
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Honda's Disastrous Return to McLaren
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McLaren vowed to "make history" during the unveiling of their first Honda-powered car in 23 years in January, but the MP4-30 has only served to taint their rich heritage in the first half of 2015.
Honda's much-anticipated return to Formula One has turned sour, with a return to the glory days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost more distant than ever for McLaren, who are set to endure a third consecutive season without a grand prix victory.
The Japanese manufacturer's V6 turbo power unit requires constant tender loving care, having failed to meet the three fundamental demands of any engine.
With a car lacking reliability, efficiency and power, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso have been reduced to prisoners, spending much of the season stuck in the garage when they should be fighting for the championship.
Lost in time, Button had to wait until the sixth round in Monaco to register his first points of the season, while Alonso didn't get of the mark until he lucked into 10th at Silverstone, his longest wait for a first point of the season since his debut campaign in 2001.
That, in truth, has been the closest McLaren have come to making history so far this season.
Red Bull's Irreparable Relationship with Renault
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As Sebastian Vettel celebrated his Malaysian Grand Prix victory from the podium, his closest allies at Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, were found ganging up on Renault's Cyril Abiteboul within the confines of the garage.
It is the defining image of a season that has seen the team's relationship with their engine manufacturer, which had been tense for some time, go beyond the point of no return.
Red Bull's frustrations with Renault's power unit—which, despite the French company having the entire winter to improve the thing, is somehow worse than the 2014-spec engine—has prevented the four-time world champions from securing a single podium finish in the opening nine races.
Despite receiving a barrage of criticism, Abiteboul has given as good as he's got, referring to Red Bull stalwart Adrian Newey as a liar, per Autohebdo (h/t BBC Sport).
Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz launched a devastating attack on Renault ahead of the team's home race in Austria, telling Speed Week (h/t BBC Sport) how the manufacturer has sapped his outfit of "will and motivation" as well as "time and money," adding that no driver-car combination could make up for the engine's frailties.
With the two parties heading for divorce, there has been no shortage of speculation regarding the future of Red Bull and Renault in F1, with Audi, as reported by F1 journalist Adam Cooper, and Aston Martin, per Autocar's Jim Holder, linked with joining forces with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Kimi Raikkonen's Fight for His Ferrari Future
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Kimi Raikkonen endured his worst-ever season in 2014, but he has recovered relatively well in the first half of 2015.
But it still might not be enough for the 2007 world champion to save his job.
The SF15-T chassis, with its more responsive front end, is better suited to Raikkonen's driving style than the '14 car, and it showed across the opening four races as the Finn was relatively evenly matched with Sebastian Vettel, despite suffering bad luck in Australia and Malaysia.
Raikkonen's second-place finish in Bahrain, his first appearance on a podium in 18 months, felt like a breakthrough moment, but instead it was the high point of the first nine races as his place at Ferrari has come under threat.
A gradual loss of form, which saw Raikkonen make inexcusable errors in Monaco, Canada and Austria, means the 35-year-old is a dead man walking at the halfway point of the season, with Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg among the contenders to inherit his seat for 2016.
Improvements to his qualifying form—only once has he beaten Vettel in a straight fight on Saturdays this season—and strong, trouble-free performances in races are the only things that will save Raikkonen now.
Williams' Strange Season
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After the opening nine races of the 2014 campaign, Williams were fourth in the constructors' championship with 103 points to their name.
This year? They're third with 151 points. The Grove-based team have improved in almost every area in 2015, yet for some reason Williams' season seems underwhelming compared to a year ago.
Perhaps it's because they are no longer the closest challengers to Mercedes at most races, having been overtaken by Ferrari in the pecking order. Perhaps we're now accustomed to the ice-white cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa running toward the front of the field.
Or maybe we just expect too much of Williams, who despite their recent resurgence remain no match for the biggest teams in the business.
Their two podiums in Canada and Austria were rewards for the pressure exerted on Ferrari—proof that they can challenge the leading outfits—yet their indecisiveness at Silverstone, a race they could have won, was the act of a team who have all the right ingredients but are unsure how to exploit them.
Always the bridesmaid...
The Kids' Done Good
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With two rookies in the team—one of whom was hailed as a potential world champion before he even sat in a Formula One car for the first time—Scuderia Toro Rosso were always going to be worth watching in 2015.
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. have rewritten the expectations for young drivers in F1.
With the feel of Lewis Hamilton and an outlook reminiscent of Kimi Raikkonen, 17-year-old Verstappen has been a revelation, approaching race weekends with maturity beyond his years yet ensuring he is always pushing boundaries (with mixed results).
Sainz lacks the box-office appeal of his team-mate but has been similarly seamless in his transition to the pinnacle of motorsport, driving with intelligence as well as flamboyance.
These contrasts make both drivers among the most exciting to observe, and while the results—through a mixture of driver error, reliability and sheer misfortune—have not always reflected the performance level of the STR10, they are almost irrelevant at this stage of the season and at this point in their careers.
For now, it's satisfying to see Sainz and Verstappen approach their first season in F1 with the freedom so many rookies have lacked.
Changes Afoot?
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For much of its existence, the Formula One Strategy Group has been unfit for purpose.
But as the calls for change have increased in volume, augmented by a dull start to the 2015 season, the Strategy Group has shown signs of actually having a strategy, making a number of proposals designed to bring F1 back to the people.
Soon after the news that the traditional season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, would be moved back a fortnight in 2016 as part of an effort to create a condensed calendar—ensuring the action comes thick and fast, keeping F1 firmly in the public's consciousness—came the first wave of potential changes.
According to the FIA's official website, these included a relaxation of the tyre-choice rules from 2016 and an overhaul of an F1 car's speed, sound and appearance from '17.
Many of these suggestions were explained in further detail in the second FIA statement ahead of the British GP, with changes to the race-start procedure, alterations to engine-related regulations and the dreaded promise of "several exciting and innovative changes to the qualifying and race weekend formats."
Formula One has also made an effort to conduct market research, with the Grand Prix Drivers' Association launching a fans' survey ahead of the Monaco GP.
With a redesigned website and a more aggressive social media presence, the sport's newfound willingness to reach out to the public and provide a service has been welcomed in 2015, even if some of those proposed changes are unnecessary.
Money Worries Remain for Small Teams
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The money worries that plagued Formula One toward the end of last season, resulting in the loss of Marussia and Caterham, seemed to be conveniently forgotten as the day job of going motor-racing resumed in March.
Yet the threat of extinction remains very real for those at the rear of the field.
Marussia, back under the name of Manor after a late rescue operation, are the walking wounded, a permanent reminder of how this most merciless of sports can chew teams up and spit them out.
Sauber survived a court case with former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde, as reported by BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, on the eve of the season opener, but their struggles to maintain their promising early form shows how small outfits must prioritise survival over on-track success.
Force India's admission of "cash-flow issues," per Sky Sports' Pete Gill, left the Silverstone-based team unable to debut their full-spec 2015 car until the ninth race of the season, while Lotus—race winners in 2012 and 2013—are facing a "winding-up petition in the High Court," according to Autosport's Ian Parkes Dieter Rencken.
A return to racing has seen financial concerns go under the radar over the first half of the season, but F1 will be fortunate if all 10 teams make it to the end of 2015.
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