The official 2015 ASN Driver Rankings have been updated to reflect the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – which we are calling the Abu Dhabi Doo Grand Prix [for no good reason whatsoever]. The 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is held at the Yas Marina circuit and is traditionally the last race of the year.
The 2015 Abu Dhabi Doo Grand Prix was a clunker from the get-go as all three season individual podium positions were decided and a non-Mercedes car had only won two races going into this 2015 Formula One season finale. Needless to say, pole-sitter Nico Rosberg and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton – who clinched the 2015 season championship three races ago – had only to worry about each other, and whether or not Hamilton was really worried about anything is debatable. Adding further fuel to the indifferent fire was the fact that season third-place driver, Sebastian Vettel, was starting way back in the 15th position in the eighth row and was unlikely to be much of a factor in impeding Rosberg or Hamilton.
Predictably, Rosberg and Hamilton launched themselves off the start with Rosberg taking the quick lead and never being seen again except for a brief moment in the race when Hamilton took the lead during a pit changeover. Rosberg would eventually win going away and Vettel steadily moved up to third place but ceded that position to his Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, so that Raikkonen could ensure his fourth place season finish over the Williams car of Valtteri Bottas. As it turned out, the maneuver was unnecessary as Bottas had several problems during the race and never contested Raikkonen for the position.
As for the driver standings, the top points go to Rosberg for a solid win – albeit against a mostly disinterested Hamilton – with the runner-up spot once again going to Vettel, who, rather effortlessly moved up to third before allowing Raikkonen to finish ahead of him. The final point is awarded to Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, who grabs his fourth point of the year by moving up nine positions from his starting grid spot. Vettel had already clinched the inaugural 2015 AutoSportsNation Driver Standings as the best Formula One driver of the season, so he pads his victory margin over Hamilton and Rosberg.
For the coveted Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award, it was a two-man race that both involved McLarens – but not in the way that you think. Fernando Alonso and Bottas are the contestants as Alonso t-boned Maldonado on the opening corner while Bottas clobbered Alonso’s McLaren teammate, Jenson Button, as he came in for a pit stop. While both were good examples of a Maldonado-ism, the Bottas incident had more of an element of pit error than full driver error while Alonso’s was fairly straightforward and the fact that it involved Maldonado – and knocked him out of the race – was irony at its finest. Alonso picks up his first point of the season in this category but Maldonado wins his inaugural category for 2015.
Another clinching of the season title has occurred in the inaugural 2015 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone, I Know What I’m Doing!” Award category as Hamilton wins the category but his pit gets the point for the 2015 Abu Dhabi Doo Grand Prix after Hamilton is monkeying with his car’s settings in the last laps and is reprimanded sternly by the pit to – “Go to Strat 10, Lewis. This is an instruction.” With that result, Hamilton has clinched the win in this category.
Finally, the Lewis Hamilton Doofus Moment Award for the 2015 Abu Dhabi Doo Grand Prix goes to former F1 racer Rubens Barrichello, who showed up to watch the race and decided the best thing in had in his wardrobe was one of those tuxedo t-shirts. Hamilton long ago clinched the win in his signature award category.
The 2015 ASN Formula One Driver Standings [after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – 34 points
2] Lewis Hamilton – 26 points
3] Nico Rosberg – 17 points
4] Valtteri Bottas/Kimi Raikkonen – five points
6] Jenson Button/Romain Grosjean/Daniel Ricciardo – four points
9] Felipe Massa – three points
10] Fernando Alonso/Nico Hulkenberg/Daniil Kvyat/Sergio Perez/Alexander Rossi/Max Verstappen – two points
16] Pastor Maldonado – one point
The 2015 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award Standings [after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]
1] Maldonado – 4.5 points
2] Grosjean – 3.5 points
3] Marcus Ericsson/Ricciardo – two points
5] Alonso/Bottas pit/Ericsson pit/Hamilton/Hamilton pit/Raikkonen/Raikkonen pit/Sainz, Jr. – one point
The 2015 Kimi Raikkonen Leave Me Alone I Know What I’m Doing Award Standings [after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton – 4.5 points
2] Rosberg – 3.5 points
3] Button/Hamilton pit/Vettel – 2 points
5] Alonso/Bottas/Raikkonen/Ricciardo pit/Will Stevens – one point
The 2015 Lewis Hamilton Doofus Moment Award [after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton – eight points
2] Bernie Ecclestone/Vettel – two points
3] Alonso/Team Ferrari/Team Force India/Christian Horner/Team McLaren/Team Mercedes/Rubens Barrichello – one point