2015 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2015 F1 season. For the real 2015 season, see the 2015 Formula One World Championship

The **2015 FIA Formula One World Championship** was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars. It was the 66th Formula One World Championship recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Twenty-two drivers representing 11 teams contested 19 Grands Prix, starting in Australia on 15 March and ending in Abu Dhabi on 29 November as they competed for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championships.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers took part in the 2015 season. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.

### Team changes

**McLaren: Mercedes -> Honda.** Several team changes took place before the season began. McLaren ended their 20-year partnership with Mercedes-Benz, in favour of a return to Honda, who had previously supplied them from 1988 until 1992. Honda had been absent for seven years: they had provided British American Racing and Jordan Grand Prix with engines until they purchased the former in 2006 and then had competed as a constructor until 2008.

**Lotus -> Mercedes.** Both Lotus F1 and Marussia went into administration towards the end of the 2014 season. The latter was saved narrowly from liquidation in February 2015, re-entering as Manor Marussia, when new investment was secured and the team left administration after an agreement with creditors was reached. Lotus was purchased and rebranded as Mercedes AMG Petronus F1 Team.

### Driver changes

**Sebastian Vettel: Red Bull -> Ferrari, Daniil Kvyat: Toro Rosso -> Red Bull.** The driver line-ups saw a couple of changes prior to the 2015 season. Sebastian Vettel left Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2014 season after six years with the team and nine years with its wider junior development programme to join Ferrari in place of Alonso. Daniil Kvyat was promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso to fill the vacated seat.

**Carlos Sainz & Max Verstappen -> Toro Rosso.** Toro Rosso changed their entire line-up: along with Kvyat joining Red Bull, the team chose not to renew Jean-Éric Vergne's contract. Vergne went on to compete in the Formula E Championship while also becoming a Ferrari development driver. They were replaced by the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Carlos Sainz Jr. and the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship third-place finisher Max Verstappen. The latter became the youngest driver to make a Formula One début, at the age of 17 years, 164 days when he started the season.

**Alexander Rossi -> Mercedes, Fernando Alonso: Ferrari -> Mercedes.** Mercedes recruited Alexander Rossi to make his Formula One début, and Fernando Alonso, who moved from Ferrari.

Kamui Kobayashi went on to race in the Super Formula series in Japan after the folding of Caterham left him without a drive in Formula One.

## Season calendar

The following nineteen Grands Prix took place in 2015:

### Calendar changes

There were a few revisions to the calendar from the previous season. The Mexican Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar for the first time since 1992. The race was held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit located in the centre of Mexico City, which was the location of all Mexican Grands Prix in previous decades. The circuit was substantially reconfigured to accommodate the sport's return.

The Grand Prix of America and the Indian Grand Prix were both contracted but did not feature on the calendar. The former originally aimed for a debut in 2013 at the Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey after a 15-year contract was signed, but was delayed for a third straight year, while the latter was cancelled for the second consecutive year due to an unresolved tax case in the Bombay High Court.

The German and Korean Grands Prix were both included on the provisional calendar. The former was set to return to the Nürburgring, in accordance with the event-sharing agreement established between the Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring in 2008. The Nürburgring had previously hosted the race in 2013 and so was scheduled to host it again in 2015, but the venue was left off the provisional calendar, leaving the event-sharing agreement at a stalemate. With both venues unwilling to host the event, the race was ultimately cancelled, leaving the country off the Grand Prix calendar for the first time since 1960. The Korean Grand Prix was scheduled to return to the Formula One calendar after being removed in 2014, but the plan was ultimately abandoned.

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's best result used to decide the standings.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship points were awarded as per the Drivers' Championship with the results of both cars taken into account. In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a constructor's best result used to decide the standings.

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