HAYDEN PADDON

6

Car: Hyundai i20 WRC Team: Hyundai Motorsport/ Hyundai Motorsport N Wins: 1Podiums: 3 Championship position: 4th A season that promised so much for the Kiwi sadly didn’t deliver. A stunning maiden win in Argentina should have been the springboard. He has the ability, the application and the attitude to be a World Rally champion but consistency was his problem this year. A rare teary-eyed glimpse of vulnerability after his rally ending off in Sardinia showed how much this game means to Hayden.

MARCH 20

Lewis Hamilton took his 50th career pole but both he and team-mate Nico Rosberg were jumped by the Ferraris at the start. The race was halted on lap 17 after Fernando Alonso had a monster shunt. Kimi Raikkonen retired while Sebastian Vettel was delayed in a botched stop. Merc claimed a 1-2.

Result:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

APRIL 3

Hamilton started from pole but Rosberg beat him to the first corner. Things got worse for Hamilton, who hit Valtteri Bottas’s Williams, dropping to ninth. Raikkonen was on form and followed Rosberg home, with Hamilton recovering to third place at the flag. Rosberg is 17 points ahead in the title race.

Result:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

APRIL 17

Rosberg takes his first pole of the season while Hamilton was forced to start from the back after an ERS problem in Q1. Rosberg was further helped when Hamilton made first-lap contact with Felipe Nasr’s Sauber and was forced to pit for a new front wing. He would recover to seventh at the flag. Rosberg led Vettel and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat home.

Result:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Sebastianvettel (Ferrari) Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)

MAY 1

There was more mechanical woe for Hamilton, who was limited to 10th after a hybrid problem affected the turbo. Rosberg, however, was untroubled as he claimed pole, the win and fastest lap. Hamilton recovered for second ahead of Raikkonen, but a first-lap shunt between Vettel and Kvyat precipitated the end of the Russian’s career at Red Bull.

Result:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

MAY 15

Hamilton got bogged down from pole position and Rosberg powered around the outside of him in to the opening turn. However, the German made a small adjustment to the mapping of his engine at Turn Three, and Hamilton seized the chance to dive for the lead. The pair collided and both were out. Max Verstappen, promoted to Red Bull, powered ahead to win from Raikkonen.

Result:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

MAY 29

Daniel Ricciardo was supreme in qualifying, landing his first pole. His challenge in the race was thwarted when Red Bull did not have tyres for him at his stop. That allowed Hamilton, who had been let ahead by Rosberg earlier on, in front in the slippery conditions as he went straight from wet tyres to slicks. Rosberg was seventh.

Result:

Lewis Hamiton (Mercedes) Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) Sergio Perez (Force India)

JUNE 12

Hamilton made another poor start and Vettel jumped into the lead. Hamilton and Rosberg brushed going in to Turn Two and the German ran wide, dropping to ninth. Hamilton took the lead when Vettel pitted for a tyre swap that compromised his tactics. Hamilton led home the Ferrari and Bottas. Rosberg battled to fifth.

Result:

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) Valterri Bottas (Williams)

JUNE 19

Rosberg was totally hooked up during the race weekend in Azerbaijan and took his fifth win of the season. Hamilton had crashed in qualifying and was forced to start in 10th spot and he battled back through the pack for fifth place at the finish despite an electrical problem that the team was unable to help solve due to new radio rules.

Result:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) Sergio Perez (Force India)

JULY 3

Hamilton, who had been slowed by a tardy pit stop, made a last-lap lunge on race leader Rosberg at Turn Two and the pair made contact. The front wing of Rosberg’s car was severely damaged and he dropped down to fourth place at the flag, behind the fortunate Verstappen and Raikkonen, who picked up the final two podium spots.

Result:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

JULY 10

A shower at the start meant the Silverstone race began under the safety car. Hamilton used a clever strategy and profited from a virtual safety car to cement his win. Verstappen was superb in the tough conditions. Rosberg was later investigated for team radio messages to help him protect his gearbox and was given a 10s penalty, dropping him behind Verstappen.

Result:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 3 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

JULY 24

Hamilton retook the points lead of the world championship after a strong performance, once he had relieved his team-mate Rosberg of the race lead going into the opening corner. Rosberg kept Hamilton under pressure throughout though and finished less than two seconds behind him. Ricciardo claimed third place.

Result:

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)

A poor start by Rosberg allowed Hamilton to lead into the first turn, and he controlled the race from there. Rosberg dropped to fourth due to his weak start. He battled through and diced with Verstappen, but was deemed to have put him off track as he grabbed second place. Rosberg was given a five-second penalty at his stop and dropped to fourth. Hamilton had to take the pain of starting from the back for making too many technical changes to his car. It was a dramatic GP with Verstappen, Vettel and Raikkonen colliding at La Source, while Kevin Magnussen had a race-stopping off at Eau Rouge in his Renault. All the drama helped Hamilton to slice up to third behind Rosberg and Ricciardo.

Hamilton kept his title dream alive with a win in Mexico, despite locking up and going wide at the opening corner and cutting the turn. Further back, Rosberg was under attack from Verstappen and was overtaken by the Red Bull, but Verstappen went wide and was later penalised. Vettel was punished too for a move on Ricciardo, so the Australian grabbed third. Hamilton kept his head in a chaotic race, which had to be stopped due to poor weather and a crash by Raikkonen. As Hamilton controlled the restart, Rosberg was forced to fend off a sensational Verstappen, who passed the Mercedes in fine style at Turn Three. Rosberg later regained the place to take a 12-point lead into the championship finale.

1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) Hamilton came under fire for backing his team-mate Rosberg up into the chasing pack during the race. Rosberg was forced to pass Verstappen to make sure of second place, which was more than enough for him to claim his first world championship. Vettel put in one of his strongest performances of the year to take the final step on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)