Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2015 Belgian Grand Prix
Mercedes returned to winning ways with a dominant Formula One display in Sunday's 2015 Belgian Grand Prix.
The power-hungry Spa-Francorchamps circuit could not have been more suited to the W06s of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Utilising a new, curved rear-wing design, the two Silver Arrows blew away the competition and secured their seventh one-two finish of the year.
Sebastian Vettel looked set for third after qualifying only ninth. However, his Ferrari team pushed the boundaries of tyre life a little too far, and a blowout two laps from home gifted Lotus their first podium since the end of 2013.
Force India and Red Bull also impressed, but McLaren came crashing back down to earth after their promising outing at the last race in Hungary. Despite being able to call on the considerable talents of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, the team were comfortably slowest of all the midfield runners.
Monza is next—another power circuit. The teams who performed well in Belgium will head to the Italian Grand Prix on September 6 in an optimistic mood.
Until then, here's how the teams rank.
A Note on Team Power Rankings
F1 team power rankings ignore the points table and instead present a snapshot of where each team stands in relation to their competitors based on the three key factors of reliability and single-lap and long-run pace.
The rankings are based on how they would perform if racing on an "average circuit" that places equal emphasis on each area of the car.
All position changes are relative to those in the previous set of rankings, published after the Hungarian Grand Prix. You can find them here.
10. Manor
1 of 10
No Change
Manor got two cars to the end again but remain a long way off the pace.
Will Stevens was the team's quickest qualifier, setting the 19th-fastest time. Roberto Merhi's lap of 1 minute, 53.099 seconds, was a tenth-and-a-half slower than his team-mate's best.
After penalties had been applied to other cars, the Manors lined up 15th (Stevens) and 17th (Merhi) but were soon relegated to the rear of the field at the start.
Merhi got ahead on the first lap and stayed there for the whole race. Neither man was able to challenge the cars ahead, and they finished 15th and 16th, with Merhi leading Stevens home.
They stay 10th.
9. McLaren
2 of 10
Down One
McLaren had their most disappointing weekend of the season despite an upgraded Honda engine.
Jenson Button qualified 17th with a time of 1:50.978—a full second slower than the 16th-placed Sauber of Felipe Nasr. Fernando Alonso was six-tenths further back in 18th. To highlight just how poor the engine was, even Will Stevens—whose Manor is using last season's Ferrari engine—was quicker through the speed trap at the end of the Kemmel Straight.
Formula One's absurd side kicked in to a degree after qualifying—a pair of new power units for both cars saw Button and Alonso given 50- and 55-place grid penalties, respectively. These dropped the McLarens to 19th (Button) and 20th (Alonso).
Alonso made one of his trademark lightning starts—having started dead last, he was ahead of six cars at the braking zone of La Source. He completed the first lap in 14th, but the car just wasn't fast enough around the high-speed Spa circuit.
The double world champion was twice overtaken by Felipe Nasr's Sauber, and he finished 13th—a lap down and half a minute behind the slowest Sauber.
Button also got off the line well, but his race was ruined by an energy deployment issue. Unable to use the car's hybrid power down the long straights, he trailed home 14th—just 40 seconds ahead of Roberto Merhi's Manor.
And this was with an upgraded Honda engine. We can only imagine how bad they'd have been with the old one.
McLaren are down a spot to ninth.
8. Sauber
3 of 10
Up One
Sauber emerged from a tough weekend with a point for the second race in a row.
Marcus Ericsson continued his recent run of good form, outqualifying team-mate Felipe Nasr for the third race in a row to start 13th. Nasr, perplexed by a lack of grip, was eliminated in Q1.
The start saw Ericsson climb to 10th, but he was soon passed by faster cars and fell back down to 12th. Though possessing good pace for a Sauber, the Swede had no chance of keeping up with the main midfield tussle.
But Sebastian Vettel's late puncture bumped him up to 10th, and Ericsson stayed there to the end to claim another potentially valuable point.
Nasr got off the line poorly and lost any chance of having a decent race when he developed a braking issue after only a handful of racing laps. But he was still able to keep in touch and finished 11 seconds behind team-mate Ericsson, just outside the points.
Sauber looked better with the partially upgraded Ferrari power unit but remain a touch off the rest of the midfield—aside from McLaren.
They're up one place to eighth.
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7. Toro Rosso
4 of 10
No Change
Toro Rosso scored points for the second race in a row, but again their reliability was poor.
Carlos Sainz Jr. set the 10th-fastest time, having reached Q3 for the sixth time in 2015. Team-mate Max Verstappen was carrying a 10-place penalty for an engine change; having gotten through to Q2, he elected to save tyres for the race and didn't set a time. He started 18th.
A great opening lap saw Verstappen up to 12th, and he was in 10th before the opening round of pit stops. He looked to have a touch less ultimate pace than most of the cars ahead, but a superior strategy—three stops versus his rivals' two—gave him greater speed toward the end of the race.
He finished eighth, scoring points in consecutive races for the first time in his short career.
But Sainz was struck by the team's poor reliability before the race had even begun. He was forced to pit at the end of the formation lap with a power issue; by the time it was resolved, he was two laps down and in last place.
His pace wasn't bad, but there was little point in him being out there, and the team decided to retire the car at the end of Lap 32.
Toro Rosso seem to have a strong chassis, but their Renault engine—and the reliability trouble seemingly associated with it—is holding them back.
They remain seventh.
6. Force India
5 of 10
Down One
Force India excelled at the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Sergio Perez qualified a season-best fifth, less than a tenth of a second shy of third-placed man Valtteri Bottas. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in Q2 by the smallest of margins, with his time of 1:49.121 only good enough for 11th.
When the lights went out, Perez made a blinding start and was up to second after the first corner. He got a good run on leader Lewis Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight, but though he got his nose ahead briefly, he backed out of the move and settled in at second.
Perez lost out to Nico Rosberg at the opening round of stops, falling to third. The cars behind were faster, but though his VJM08 didn't have the pace over a whole lap, it was blindingly quick in a straight line.
Despite falling to fifth at the second round of stops, Perez held off Felipe Massa in the final stint to finish fifth—his best result since Bahrain last season.
Hulkenberg suffered a loss of power on the formation lap and was unable to get off the grid. The rest of the pack went around again, and the German was wheeled into the garage to retire—a disappointing end to what could have been a good weekend.
Force India drop a spot to sixth.
5. Lotus
6 of 10
Up One
Lotus summoned up the spirit of 2013 to become the fifth team to score a podium this year.
Romain Grosjean set the scene with a beautiful lap in qualifying—1:48.561. It was good enough for fourth on the grid, but a penalty for changing his gearbox resulted in the Frenchman starting ninth. Pastor Maldonado qualified eighth but started seventh thanks to his team-mate's penalty.
At the start, Grosjean made up one place and was up to seventh a few laps later. He looked the third-fastest man on the track in the second stint, and after making his final visit to the pits, Grosjean was fourth and chasing Sebastian Vettel.
The pair were evenly matched at first, but the Ferrari man had stopped seven laps earlier, and as his tyres went off, Grosjean began to close. He might have been able to overtake, but in the end it didn't matter—Vettel's tyre exploded with two laps to go, promoting Grosjean to third.
Though harsh on Vettel, it was no more than Lotus deserved.
Maldonado held seventh off the line, but his car slowed suddenly on the second lap with a loss of power. The team believes it may have been down to heavy contact with the kerbs—whatever the cause, it was the Venezuelan's seventh retirement of the year.
Lotus outperformed low-drag specialists Williams in Spa, but overall the car isn't quite on the level of the FW37.
They're up a spot to fifth.
4. Williams
7 of 10
Down One
Williams will be extremely disappointed with their race pace, despite qualifying well.
Valtteri Bottas started third after putting in a fine lap of 1:48.537 but was a huge 1.4 seconds down on the leading Mercedes. Felipe Massa was seventh, a tenth-and-a-half further back.
The last time a Williams started in third, it led after the opening lap; on this occasion, Bottas lost two places and completed the lap in fifth. His race was further compromised at his first stop when the team fitted his car with three yellow-marked soft tyres and one white-marked medium.
Compound-mixing isn't allowed, and Bottas received a drive-through penalty for the team's error.
The Finn emerged from his second stop in 11th. His pace on the medium tyres—on all four corners this time—was good, but he was coming from too far back. Despite cutting the deficit to all the cars ahead bar the two Mercedes, he could only manage ninth.
Massa also had a poor start and dropped to ninth after one lap. He held the place through the first round of stops before getting stuck in traffic. The usually lighting-fast FW37 didn't have enough straight-line speed for the Brazilian to make any moves at all.
He finished sixth due to others' hitting trouble.
Williams were quick but didn't get the results—and their rivals for third in the championship looked very good indeed.
They fall a spot to fourth.
3. Red Bull
8 of 10
Up One
Red Bull did well to compete at a circuit with such a heavy power requirement.
Daniel Ricciardo led the way for the team in qualifying with a lap of 1:48.639—barely a tenth slower than third-placed Valtteri Bottas in the Williams. Daniil Kvyat was less impressive and could only manage 12th.
Kvyat made an average start but made up places in the opening laps, rising to eighth by the time everyone started making their first stops. He held the place after his own visit to the pits and had decent pace through his second stint.
He looked set for a finish somewhere in the region of sixth, but a third stop—while most of his rivals stuck to two—gave the Russian a much quicker car in the final phase of the race. He flew past Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez in the closing stages to finish fourth.
Ricciardo made a good start and was up to third at the end of the first lap. He could do nothing to prevent the recovering Nico Rosberg slipping by at the pit-stop phase, then lost another place to Sergio Perez.
Romain Grosjean also overtook, before Ricciardo slowed suddenly in the final chicane on Lap 19 and was forced to retire with a loss of power.
Red Bull will be pleased to have done so well—at least in terms of speed—relative to their nearest rivals. They rise above Williams to third.
2. Ferrari
9 of 10
No Change
Ferrari's worst qualifying performance of the season was followed by their worst race.
Sebastian Vettel could only qualify ninth after an error at the final chicane on his hot lap. Kimi Raikkonen fared even worse, with his car grinding to a halt with a loss of oil pressure in Q2 before he'd had chance to set a time. He qualified 14th; this became 16th after a five-place penalty for changing his gearbox.
A good start saw Vettel up to sixth by the end of the opening lap. He gained a further place after overtaking Valtteri Bottas and ran as high as second before making what turned out to be his only visit to the pits at the end of Lap 14.
The stop dropped him to sixth, but he soon recovered back to third after his rivals made their second stops. Vettel managed the tyres well throughout the long stint, but in the closing laps he came under pressure from Romain Grosjean.
It looked like the German would be able to hold on, but his right-rear tyre had been pushed too far. It exploded as Vettel entered the Kemmel Straight on the penultimate lap, knocking him out of the points.
Raikkonen had an average getaway and made slow but steady progress through the field. He was a net 10th after his first stop and up to eighth after his second, but couldn't make an impact on any of the cars ahead.
He was promoted to seventh after Vettel's tyre incident, and that's where he finished as part of a tight scrap involving Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Ferrari remain second.
1. Mercedes
10 of 10
No Change
Mercedes returned to the top step of the podium after dominating the Spa weekend.
Lewis Hamilton took his 10th pole of the season with a lap of 1:47.197, almost 1.4 seconds quicker than the nearest non-Mercedes. Nico Rosberg was second on the grid.
Mercedes have struggled with poor starts in recent races, but Hamilton converted his pole into the race lead. Though Sergio Perez pulled alongside on the run to Les Combes on the opening lap, the reigning world champion was able to hold him off.
Hamilton was never threatened thereafter and cruised home to take his sixth race win of the year.
Rosberg had a more exciting race. A poor getaway saw the German fall to fifth by the first corner, but he immediately set about recovering by dispatching Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap.
Initially he seemed unable to do anything about Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez up ahead, but when they made their stops, Rosberg put the hammer down. Such was his pace that he was able to "overcut" both to reclaim second.
The gap to Hamilton fluctuated for the remainder of the race, but Rosberg was unable to mount any sort of attack. He finished where he'd started, giving his team their seventh one-two of the year.
Mercedes remain on top.
Results, timing and penalty data used throughout sourced from the official F1 website, the FIA and F1Fanatic's lap charts.
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