With Lewis Hamilton clinching the F1 Drivers Championship in the last round in Austin and Mercedes having clinched the Constructors Championship in Sochi, you may think that there isn’t much point in tuning in to watch the remaining three races. However, as I am about to detail, there are plenty of other battles between drivers in the current standings to provide the entertainment in the final rounds of the 2015 Formula One season.
The Fight for Second
Lewis Hamilton may have wrapped up the title, but there is an incredible fight for second in the championship. Sebastian Vettel currently holds on to the position with 251 points, but Nico Rosberg is only four points behind his fellow German.
Battle of the Finns
Whose going to be top Finn of 2015? Kimi Raikkonen is currently fourth in the standings, but fellow Finn, Valtteri Bottas is fifth and only twelve points behind Raikkonen. It may seem like quite a big points gap, but one bad result for Raikkonen and a solid finish for Bottas will close the gap between the two considerably.
Williams
And the top Williams driver is…..? Although, as mentioned, Bottas is fifth and in a fight with Raikkonen for fourth, Valtteri will also have to be wary of his team mate Felipe Massa who is sixth in the standings and only two points separate the two Williams’ heading into the Mexican Grand Prix.
Red Bull
Below the two Williams drivers are the Red Bulls with Daniil Kvyat currently seventh on 76 points and his team mate, Daniel Ricciardo only two points behind in eighth.
Sergio Perez
The Mexican heads into his home Grand Prix ten points off Ricciardo and is nineteen ahead of Max Verstappen who is immediately behind him in the standings. This puts Perez in a perfect position to try and get involved in the Red Bull fight and attempt to leapfrog both in the championship.
Battle for Tenth
After his impressive display in Austin, Max Verstappen finds himself lying tenth in the championship, a point ahead of Romain Grosjean.
Nico Hulkenberg
The second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg is in a similar situation as his team mate. Nico is only six points behind Grosjean and finds himself nine points ahead of Nasr who is immediately below him in the standings. A good result for Hulkenberg could see him get in the fight for tenth in the championship.
Nasr v Maldonado
As mentioned, below Hulkenberg is Felipe Nasr who currently has 27 points. Nasr may want to beat Hulkenberg in his debut year but may have to concentrate more on beating Pastor Maldonado who is only one point behind the Brazilian.
Rookie v World Champion
Eight points behind Maldonado is Carlos Sainz who finds himself only two points ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Both the Toro Rosso and McLaren have had reliability issues, but both Sainz and Button have put in impressive and solid performances making this a very open battle.
Alonso v Ericsson
Fernando Alonso is five points behind his team mate in the standings. However he may want to keep an eye on Marcus Ericsson who is only two points behind.
Manor
Behind Ericsson are the three Manors, all on zero points. Of the three Manors, Merhi is currently the highest placed ahead of Rossi and then Stevens. All three will be in the car at least once in the final three races.
Wrap Up
As can be seen there are plenty of battles across the drivers championship which will undoubtedly change in the remaining three races of the season.
The Motorsport Critic 