This post is all about the new 2015 GP2 and GP3 champions.
Stoffel Vandoorne won the GP2 series championship at last months Sochi Autodrom with five races to spare ahead of both Alexander Rossi and Sergey Sirotkin in the standings. So where going to see Stoffel Vandoorne next season? A McLaren test-driver for next season unless a Manor drive happens which is highly unlikely.
Meanwhile at at Yas Marina Circuit from last weekend, Esteban Ocon won this years GP3 series championship ahead of both Luca Ghiotto and Marvin Kirchhöfer in the standings. We will possibly see Esteban Ocon in a top GP2 team or a top Formula 3.5 V8 Series team next season. While Ocon will be a development driver for Mercedes next season with a possibility with a Manor drive happens which is likely due to Mercedes are supplying the team next season.
So, contractions to the new champions. Bring on 2016.
Review of the final round of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship season was the Race of Qatar, at Losail International Circuit, north of Doha, Qatar for WTCC first ever night race.
In the first race, Citroën Total WTCC driver and current WTCC Champion José María López took the race win in his C-Elysée WTCC. Second was Sébastien Loeb Racing driver Mehdi Bennani in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC and also took Independents class win, he was eight seconds behind López in the end. While third place was Campos Racing driver Hugo Valente in his Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1, he was twelve seconds behind López in the end.
While in the second race, Citroën Total WTCC driver Yvan Muller took the race win in his C-Elysée WTCC. Second was Citroën Total WTCC driver Ma Qing Hua in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC, he was five seconds behind Muller in the end. While third place was Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz in his Honda Civic WTCC and also took Independents class win, he was six seconds behind Muller in the end.
And so this years champions in WTCC, WTCC Drivers' Champion: José María López. WTCC Manufacturers' Championship: Citroën. Yokohama Drivers' Trophy Champion: Norbert Michelisz. And Yokohama Teams' Trophy Champions: ROAL Motorsport.
2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix review of round nineteen and the final round of the 2015 F1 season at Yas Marina Circuit, and thoughts on the race as well.
Once again, another dominating race weekend from Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes, fastest in practice, pole position on Saturday, dominate the race on Sunday, lead most of the laps, to conclude with Nico Rosberg taking a race win at this seasons Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for his sixth race win of the season.
While, Rosberg's team-mate and current current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton finished second place in the Mercedes to give the team its twelfth one-two finish of the season, Hamilton was eight seconds behind Rosberg at the end.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Räikkönen was nineteen seconds behind Rosberg at the end of the fifty-five lap race.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 9
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (finished second and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 10 (pole and race win)
Red Bull Racing - 7
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished sixth)
Daniil Kvyat - 7 (finished tenth)
Williams - 6
Valtteri Bottas - 5 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
Felipe Massa - 7 (finished eighth)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 8 (finished fourth)
Kimi Räikkönen - 9 (finished third)
McLaren - 6
Jenson Button - 7 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Fernando Alonso - 5 (finished seventeenth, two laps down)
Force India - 8
Nico Hülkenberg - 8 (finished seventh)
Sergio Pérez - 9 (finished fifth)
Toro Rosso - 5
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 7 (finished eleventh)
Max Verstappen - 4 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Lotus - 6
Romain Grosjean - 8 (finished ninth)
Pastor Maldonado - 5 (DNF, Collision with Fernando Alonso)
Manor - 6
Will Stevens - 7 (finished eighteenth, two laps down)
Roberto Merhi - 6 (finished nineteenth, two laps down)
Sauber - 5
Marcus Ericsson - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Now bring on 2016, for another season of Formula 1. Only three and a half months to go.
The name remains the same, but the car underneath is all new with brand new technology with the 2016 Audi R18 e-tron quattro despite the whole of the car, the front expressively looks very ugly in my opinion.
The new updates to the new R18 e-tron includes a much more developed 4 litre V6 turbo-diesel underneath. The new R18 e-tron quattro will upper the hybrid technology with Audi abandoning the flywheel energy storage that holds four megajoules before, in favour for a lithium-ion battery, the same technology that uses by Porsche with the 919 Hybrid that now produces six megajoules.
The new R18 e-tron once again pushes the limits on aerodynamics, as can be seen from the first images it looks more narrower than previous R18 etron's.
But, the question for Audi is can the new R18 e-tron quattro be fast enough to beat the likes of Porsche and Toyota next season in the World Endurance Championship? time will tell as we haven't seen what Porsche and Toyota have shown yet for 2016.
This season Sauber F1 Team scored 36 points and currently sits eighth in the Constructors' Championship this year with a round to spare, compared from last season the team didn't scored any points and finished in tenth place in the Constructors' last season. So this post is the top six worse Sauber F1 cars ever! Starting with number 6:
Number 6: 2005 Sauber C24
Story: Sauber C24 was designed by Willy Rampf, the Sauber C24 had the 3 litre Petronas (Ferrari) V10 engine underneath. Sauber C24 took two top four finishes in that season with Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa each taking a fourth place finish. The team only managed 20 points to take eighth place in the Constructors' Championship. The next season BMW bought the Sauber team from Peter Sauber.
Number 5: 2000 Sauber C19
Story: Sauber C19 was designed by Leo Ress, the Sauber C19 had the 3 litre Petronas (Ferrari) V10 engine underneath. Sauber C19 took two top five finishes in that season with Mika Salo. The team only managed 6 points to take eighth place in the Constructors' Championship.
Number 4: 1996 Sauber C15
Story: Sauber C15 was designed by Leo Ress, the Sauber C15 had the 3 litre Ford Zetec-R V10 engine underneath. Sauber C15 took only one podium finish in that season with Johnny Herbert taking a third place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. The team only managed 11 points to take seventh place in the Constructors' Championship.
Number 3: 1999 Sauber C18
Story: Sauber C18 was designed by Leo Ress, the Sauber C18 had the 3 litre Petronas (Ferrari) V10 engine underneath. Sauber C18 took five top six finishes in that season with Jean Alesi and Pedro Diniz. The team only managed 5 points to take eighth place in the Constructors' Championship. The car wasn't fast, but the car was a very unreliable car altogether then its processor.
Number 2: 2009 BMW Sauber F1.09
Story: BMW Sauber F1.09 was designed by Willy Rampf, the BMW Sauber F1.09 had the 2.4 litre BMW V8 engine underneath. BMW Sauber F1.09 took two top two finishes in that season with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld each taking a second place finish. The team only managed 36 points to take sixth place in the Constructors' Championship. However, the damage had been done, and BMW announced that 2009 would be their last season in Formula One. Peter Sauber bought back the Sauber team.
Number 1: 2014 Sauber C33
Story: Sauber C33 was designed by Eric Gandelin, the Sauber C33 had the 1.6 litre Ferrari Turbo V6 power unit underneath. To give Sauber 0 points that season with their best result with two eleventh place finishes with Adrian Sutil, and only tenth place in the constructors championship that season (the worse constructors championship position in their history). The car wasn't fast, but the car was reliable nonetheless. To give this 2014 Sauber C33 the worse Sauber F1 car ever!
Review of the final round of the 2015 TCR International Series season was at the Guia Street Circuit, in Macau.
In the first race, WestCoast Racing driver Rob Huff took the race win in his Honda Civic TCR. Second was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Jordi Gené in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was eight seconds behind Huff in the end. While, third place was Target Competition driver Stefano Comini in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was nine seconds behind Huff in the end.
While in the second race, Target Competition driver Stefano Comini took the race win in his SEAT León Cup Racer. That was enough for Stefano Comini to be 2015 TCR International Series Drivers' Champion to beat Pepe Oriola by thirty points in the last round of the year. Contractions to Stefano Comini for winning this years title.
Second was Target Competition driver Andrea Belicchi in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was two seconds behind Comini in the end. Whild, third place was Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver Mikhail Grachev in his Volkswagen Golf TCR, he was twenty-six seconds behind Comini in the end.
And so this years champions in TCR International Series, TCR International Series Drivers' Champion: Stefano Comini. TCR International Series Teams' Championship: Target Competition. And OMP Trophy: Stefano Comini.
It was confirmed yesterday (23/11/15) that Ducati has signed former MotoGP Champion Casey Stoner for 2016 in the role of brand ambassador and test rider, when he officially leaves Honda at the end of 2015.
Stoner won his first MotoGP world title with Ducati back in 2007, before switching to Honda for 2011 and adding a second championship that season.
Stoner retired from MotoGP in 2012 but continued with Honda in a test role, and made his competitive racing return at this year's Suzuka 8 Hours, which was cut short by a violent crash. Also, he was in the frame to replace the injured Dani Pedrosa for two rounds earlier in the season. However, Honda decided against using Stoner because they did not have a motorcycle specifically set-up for Stoner.
Stoner, who won 23 MotoGP wins for Ducati between 2007-2010, will "take part in a selected number of MotoGP tests" for the brand next year, while the potential for a race return through wild card appearances has also been mooted.
Don't be at all surprise if Stoner returns to full MotoGP ride with Ducati in 2017. In my opinion I think it might just happen.
