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Pundit X Preview: S15 F1 Season

The S15 F1 Season is looming, filled with many familiar faces from last season along with several new ones. Last year saw Philippe de Saint-Germain Jr take his 4th consecutive Drivers' Championship. His team, Red Bull, however, couldn't notch a 3rd consecutive Constructors' Championship as his teammate Romain Louis Grosjean Jr struggled in his 1st year of F1 Competition. The Constructors' Championship would end up going to Mercedes, their 1st Constructors' Championship and the 1st one not to be won by either Red Bull or OMR.

S15 Team and Driver outlooks: Teams are underlined, Drivers are in bold

Red Bull: Having always been one of the powerhouse teams in F1, They had to settle for 3rd in the Constructors' Championship last year as they were held back by an underperforming Romain Louis Grosjean Jr. With Red Bull's expectations of dominance and nothing less, one has to believe he'll be on the hot seat this season.

#1. Philippe de Saint-Germain Jr. (FRA): The guy is a legend, what more can I say? He's won the last 4 Drivers' Championships, and it's no surprise that many say he'll be the odds on favorite to win it again.

#2. Romain Louis Grosjean Jr. (FRA): He was the highly touted rookie of S14, but he didn't fully live up to the hype people gave him. In some ways I have to question Red Bull's decision of picking him up as a rookie to begin with. I mean, talent-wise he definitely belongs in F1, but by taking a rookie F1 driver and putting him right away into a top team can very easily end up in young drivers crashing and burning. You have to assume they're grooming him to be the heir apparent to PSG, once the inevitable day comes that PSG retires. Only time will tell, but from what I've seen, I'm not completely sold on that.

Mercedes: Mercedes finally proved that they belonged among the top tier teams by winning their 1st Constructors' Championship, although some might consider it to be a fluke. Can they prove that it wasn't? The smart money says "no", as their car seems to be slightly inferior to both Red Bull and OMR coming into the season.

#3. Paolo Grandi (ITA): At several points during last season it looked like he'd break PSG's championship streak, but it wasn't to be. He'll be one of the favorites going into this new season.

#4. Stanislaw Bum (POL): His performance has tapered off the past 2 seasons, leading some to speculate he could be replaced sooner rather than later. Still, he's definitely deserving of a top F1 ride.

OMR: Many had them as the favorites for the Constructors' Championship last season, but reliability woes caused them to settle for 2nd. As a result, both of their drivers would fall out of contention for the Drivers' Championship late in the season. Still, they were the only team last season to have both of their drivers win races, which showcases the talent of both drivers. Experts say reliability could be an issue for them again, but outside of that they're believed to have the best car. That along having the best overall driver lineup makes them the favorite again this season for the Constructors' Championship.

#5. Andre Acarini (ITA): The former double world champion lost his status last season as Italy's top driver to Mercedes rival Paolo Grandi. One has to believe he'll be more than determined to reclaim that status. Was a main contender for the Driver's championship last year, but was hindered by OMR's poor reliability and settled for 3rd.

#6. Guido Di Rado (ITA): Undoubtedly the best #2 driver in F1 right now, and could easily leave and be #1 on another team if he wanted to. Mainly being looked at as a dark horse championship contender.

Jordan: After finishing 2nd in the Constructors' Championship in S13, Jordan took a big step backwards in S14 as Charvec Libor couldn't repeat the success he had in S13. Expect them to rebound this season and take the fight to the other top teams.

#7. Charvec Libor (CZE): One of the preseason favorites last season after a 2nd place finish in S13, he fell off big time in S14 thanks to bad luck and inconsistency. It's vital that he returns to S13 form if both he and Jordan want to make serious runs at both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships respectively.

#8. Lukin Kaderabek (CZE): While he also statistically did worse last season than he did in S13, you can make the argument that expectation-wise, he held up his end of the bargain, or at least held it better than Libor did.

McLaren: Despite nearly doubling their point total from S13, thanks in large to the vast improvement of Rocco Rapido, they couldn't improve their position of 5th in the Constructors' Championship. They find themselves in a weird spot of being above the middle tier teams, but also nowhere near the top tier teams. They have the car to contend with the big 4, but do they have the drivers?

#9. Rocco Rapido (SUI): Takes over as McLaren's #1 driver this season after a stellar 2nd season in F1. The most improved driver from last season, with an improved car, should compete for wins this season.

#10. Marcis Jr. Freiverts (LAT): Lost his spot as #1 at McLaren. If McLaren wants to seriously take the fight to the big 4 teams, they need to put him on the hot seat immediately. He was 2nd fiddle to Szabo and now he's 2nd fiddle to Rapido. How you can be 2nd fiddle to 2 separate drivers on the same team and still be on said team is a mystery to me.

BMW: Nearly doubled their point total from S13, in just their 2nd year under the BMW name. Their driver lineup to me seems a bit weak for a middle tier team, but they put up good results last year, so I can't complain too much about it.

#11. Sergey Osmolovsky (BLR): At first glance he seems like a driver who shouldn't even have an F1 ride, but he's proven me wrong with his improvement over the past 2 seasons.

#12. Oleg Petrov (RUS): A rookie last season, and while he didn't have any of the hype that RLG had, you have to say he did a better job of living up to expectations.

Sempre Senna: If there's one team that's likely to move in the wrong direction, it's this one. The car just looks plain bad compared to all the others. Wouldn't be a surprise if they finished dead last in the championship this season.

#14. Kamil Speedowski (POL): Made a decent improvement last season, but don't expect that this year with a dreadful car.

#15. Marcin Lupa (POL): He definitely has the talent to have success in F1, but for some reason hasn't been able to put it all together, and it definitely won't happen this season.

Audi: For a middle tier team, they boast a surprisingly strong driver lineup. The car is only slightly above average at best, but the talent of their drivers could more than make up for that.

#16. Odon Ifj. Tok (HUN): Moved to Audi last season after spending the 2 seasons before that as #2 to PSG at Red Bull. Obviously won't contend for podiums like he did back when he was at Red Bull, but still proves himself to be one of the better drivers in the series.

#17. Jonas Gudas (GBR): The 3 time Formula E champion makes the move to F1 this season and will without a doubt be the rookie to watch. Experts say he may be slightly overwhelmed at first by the higher level of competition, but will definitely prove that he belongs in F1.

Williams: Another team that looks to improve this season with an improved driver lineup and respectable car.

#18. Kaius Kuria (FIN): Takes over as #1 at Williams following the retirement of Teemu Laine. He's brought good results for the team, but can do that as well as be the veteran leader that Laine was?

#19. Pentti Lund (FIN): Another highly touted rookie making his F1 debut this season. He replaces the retiring Laine at Williams and many say he's actually better than his teammate Kuria. Only time will tell if that proves true or not.

Ferrari: Only managed to get 10th due to a lucky point in the rainy British GP. The car is bad, although nowhere near the level of bad that Sempre Senna is at. While they have improved their driver lineup, it still seems a bit questionable.

#20. Dominik Dan (SVK): Returned to F1 last season after a 4 season stint in NASC Gold Cup. Was really the only bright spot of the team last year and it'll be all up to him if they want to score again this year. A very talented driver who really deserves a better ride than this...

#21. Vitaliy Romadov (RUS): Replaces Peter Leysek at Ferrari. Making his return to F1 after a stint in NASC Gold Cup, winning the championship last season. While he is talented, his skill set just doesn't seem like a good fit for F1. He definitely fit much better in the longer stock car races.

Windsor: This team hasn't been able to find the same success they had in their earlier seasons when they had drivers like Di Rado and Tok before they truly became the stars of F1 that they are today. They've struggled to find suitable replacements once they went to bigger and better teams, and the team's performance has dropped because of it. It'll mostly look to be the same story this season.

#22. Fabricio Cruz (POR): While improving a bit last season, he's still looking for his first career point in F1. While talent wise he's okay, I think he made the jump to F1 before he was really ready.

#23. Mieczyslaw Gnojarzowski (POL): Moves to Windsor this season after spending his first 2 seasons of F1 at HamrHedZ. Definitely moved to a stronger team this season, albeit not by much. Okay driver.

HamrHedZ: Once the weakest team in F1, they've slowly improved in recent seasons. However, expect them to fall back a bit as Mieczyslaw Gnojarzowski left to join Windsor this season.

#24. Marcos Afonso (SPA): With Gnojarzowski leaving the team, the pressure is now on him to bring home good results to HamrHedz. I don't think he can handle the pressure of being "the guy".

#25. Rafael Rato (POR): Every season it seems like there's one or two drivers that make you ask yourself "How on Earth did they get an F1 ride?". This is one of those drivers. He hasn't been a contender in any series he's been in and obviously does not belong in F1 at all! This will be his first, and most likely his last, year in F1.

Toro Rosso: While they may be in only their 2nd season under the Toro Rosso name, it wouldn't be a surprise for them to be the most improved team. They have a respectable car, and 2 drivers who look make use of it to score points in their sophomore seasons.

#26. Luchino Granelli (ITA): Didn't make much noise as a rookie in F1 last season. Was the 2nd most hyped rookie last season behind RLG as he won 3 NASC Gold Cup championships in 4 seasons. Looks to make a statement this season.

#27. Jerko Vandenbergh (BEL): While not hyped as much as his teammate was, he also experienced growing pains in his 1st season of F1. Talent wise is about equal as his teammate, but gets less attention paid to him due to less hype.

Trabant: A consistent bottom feeder in F1, they should improve slightly and maybe even score, due in large to a massive driver lineup upgrade. The car, while not great, is far from the worst. They should look to try to do all they can to keep their young talented rookies and build around them before the big teams swipe them up.

#28. Maximus Vanderpuije (CAN): Another F1 rookie. Some of the stronger teams could have their eyes on him for future seasons. Still fairly young and has the potential to be a star for years to come.

#29. Kala Vees (EST): Though a couple years older than his fellow rookie teammate, he's also very likely to be a future star in F1.

LKR: Nothing seemed to go right for them last season as they recorded their worst season ever, finishing dead last in the Constructors' Championship. They should get out of the cellar at least this season as their car looks decent enough to make respectable runs.

#30. Eduardo Diesel (AUT): He's been there since the beginning and hasn't scored a single point. Makes you wonder what he's still doing in this series. Most drivers that go that long without scoring would be gone by now.

#31. Rudi Bremser (AUT): A young driver with a bright future in F1, but he took a step back last season. Look for him to do better with an improved car.

All in all, this should be an exciting season. The rookie class this year is fairly strong... for the most part, and there's at least 4 or 5 drivers that could win it all.

This has been Pundit X's preview for the S15 F1 Season.