Rate the race: 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Brazilian Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (1%)
  • 8 (2%)
  • 7 (9%)
  • 6 (20%)
  • 5 (22%)
  • 4 (18%)
  • 3 (15%)
  • 2 (8%)
  • 1 (6%)

Total Voters: 532

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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177 comments on “Rate the race: 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix”

  1. 8/10, solid race, lots of battles :)

    1. Did I just not notice them or did they not have the Shell logos on the run off areas this year?

      1. I didn’t see but could they have been CGI?

        1. They were CGI.

      2. @strontium Shell? Petrobras is a long standing sponsor of the GP, I can’t see how shell has ever sponsored this event.

        1. @glynh @michal2009b @peartree they’ve always had a large Shell logo painted in the runoff at turn one.

          1. I thought you were talking about DHL CGI at Ferradura. Anyway there was a lot of CGI all over Interlagos.

          2. I know the one you mean @strontium, It’s not at turn 2 anymore but I’m not sure when it went.

    2. Serious? 8/10??? I guess Valencia 2011 was a 7/10 for you haha

      1. Looking back now it should’ve been a 7/10 in fairness, but I did genuinely enjoy that!

    3. Same, same.
      I had a lot of fun watching this one, so 8/10.

  2. Boring. 3/10

    1. Yeah, broke a few matches with my eye lids on that one. two overtaking spots, and all passes were with DRS, or did I miss something? Good job by Vettel, and he just needed a smidge more oomph to get close. And what a shame that Nico seems to peak, when the pressure is gone. Good to see him actually being a pretty solid racer, and it gives us some variation up front at least.

      1. Broke a few matches with your eyelids?! Never heard that phrase before…

      2. I got through a whole matchbox!

    2. I agree, we all know why F1 in the last few years has been horrible. Why are people accepting this is what it is and we “need to get used to it”?

      Stop watching races, stop buying tickets to races. That is the only way this will change. If everybody complains online but still watches, the financial aspect never changes and FOM will continue this garbage.

  3. 3/10 incredibly boring

    1. Same here, unfortunately.

      Some great wheel to wheel action, but nothing fancy.
      I still think VES is too aggressive and impulsive, not exciting at all, always on the edge of a big shunt.
      The fact that he doesn’t crash when he pulls those moves is because the other drivers aren’t a MAL and want to finish the race.
      Other people might think otherwise, everyone has their opinion, this is mine.

      1. Maybe you should watch something else if you think their ” not exciting at all”. And no, i disagree with you in every bit!

        1. It’s “they’re”.
          Thank you for the comment and critic Alex.
          For me, F1 has become more and more an empty business and less a sport.

          The way FOM presents and broadcasts the GP hasn’t changed in ages.
          I’ve watched F1 for more than 30 years, and when it comes to the broadcast itself, the latest innovations like “thermal cam”, “CGI sponsoring” and “rotating cameras” make it even less appealing for the lack of imagination.

          Some GP’s are exciting per se, like Monaco or Spa, but most of the last seasons it has been a snoozefest.

          Luckly for some, Verstappen is something to look at.
          Sure he has talent and a good car, and some people like the impetuosity of a 18 year old.
          I don’t, he could be better off in GP2 for another year and earn his way up.

          Sure, I can watch anything I want, but it’s my passion that they’re damaging.
          //end rant

      2. Why is Verstappen boring? He’s probably the most exciting driver out there now! “Always on the edge of a big shunt” is pretty much the definition of exciting. The difference between him and someone like Maldonado is that Verstappen is always on the edge, whereas Maldonado frequently crosses it. Also, VES overtakes people, while MAL is overtaken.

  4. This race sums F1’s current state perfectly. 1/10.

    1. Which is?

      I for one am happy F1 is a sport, I’m sure they could make it a better show if they did it like WWE.

      1. And those super-competitive regulations together with DRS! Sport at its most pure!

        1. DRS did not make this one less exciting.

          If the cars can’t follow closely it’s because of how the aerodynamics are affected by dirty air. That’s a very hard problem to solve, it’s a problem they are trying very hard to deal with.

          1. Of course no-DRS would not make current F1 exciting. You are right about dirty air. However we would have seen at least some interesting moves. That would make it a little bit better.

          2. We would have been better served with an adjustable front wing rather than DRS.

          3. No they don’t try to solve it. If they were trying something they would remove those overcomplex front wings to reduce aero dependency and they would already do something with tyres and. cars to bring more mechanical grip.This is really joke F1 and proof is that we only have race in changable conditions or late safety car that brings pack together and all have fresh tires to actually race after restart.

          4. @dex022 exactly. They could do that, and allow more ground effect. I still have my naive hopes up for the 2017 regulations, as mechanical grip will be much better, as the tires become wider, so maybe they will adjust the aero to that. Fingers crossed.

          5. @velocityboy, the thing is, they have already tried using adjustable front wings in the past to assist the car behind back in 2009.

            However, the evidence from track was that the system proved to be ineffective – more often than not, the trailing driver would reach the point where the wing would either reach the limits of its adjustable range, or would shift the balance too far and end up inducing oversteer.

          6. DRS is the answer the aerodynamicists came up with to allow more passing, because their fancy front wings don’t work in dirty air.

            It does not help with the dirty air, which has little effect in a straight line but reduces downforce in corners. In this way it compensates for the difficulty of following closely through a corner to mount an overtaking attempt on the next straight.

            DRS does help overtaking on a straight starting from further behind.

            Aerodynamicists would never come up with the best solution, which is to have less aerodynamic gadgets, especially on the front wing. This would have a side benefit of reducing cornering speeds, and the energy of accidents in corners.

        2. DRS actually worked really well here. Especially the second DRS zone which gave a just overtaken car the chance to try and come back.

          1. +1 to more mechanical grip and more ground effect. I’ve been saying this (to myself :) ) for years.

      2. F1 is a business, not a sport.

      3. It may as well be like WWE after this snoozefest. 1/10 for me too.

      4. I tried watching NASCAR. It has closer racing AND is more like the WWF. But I just couldn’t get into it.

        Of course, Hamilton westled in Mexico. So we r getting close.They just need some parked cars for him to bump into on the formation lap.

  5. Fell asleep. Bring on 2017.

    1. Already?!?!

      1. I’d love to be wrong, but I can’t see 2016 being too much different. If we’re lucky, Ferrari will be able to match Mercedes more frequently. But I think a major design/rule change (2017) is the only thing that will shake F1 out of this Mercedes era.

  6. 7 for me. It wasn’t spectacular but the tension was there with Rosberg holding off Hamilton and there was also some nice overtakes in the midfield with verstappen and the Lotus cars.

    1. Agreed.

      The low light what Martin Brundle doing the podium interviews, could they not find someone that actually won an F1 race?

      1. At least he has a vast amount of F1 experience driving and commentating…or would you rather have Elton John in his tracksuit up there again?!

      2. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Or perhaps Benedict Cumberbatch?

        1. I thought Cumberbatch did a great job, he was clear and to the point and didn’t try to ‘hype’ up the crowd in a cringeworthy fashion like that joke, Eddie Jordan. And Arnie was fun, only because I saw it live at the track.

    2. Once again, Verstappen is a highlight.

    3. Well there wont be any tension when I get to watch the highlights tonight, if I bother to, that is.

    4. Are you kidding me? What tension? COTA, there was tension between Lewis and Nico. This race, it was so stupid. You knew Hamilton wasn’t going to dive down the inside, he was just going to moan for a different strategy, which he ultimately never received from the team.

      Hopeless race.

  7. 4/10. Dull as dishwater.

  8. Gave it a 7 which I think is generous, fights in the midfield were good but FOM coverage was a let down compared to the recent Moto GP race

  9. Shock horror, another terrible race. Who would’ve thought that would happen…
    Sigh
    3/10

  10. 3. Only plus was Verstappens overtake.

    Is it me or do cars find it harder this year to follow another? And is this true is true, why? Could it be the low noses?

    1. I asked the same thing on the forums and nobody answered… We need an explanation because last year it wasn’t so difficult to follow and overtake a car. I also think it has something to do with the tyres…

      1. Lower noses and even more complex front wings are to blame. 2013 was a great year for racing. This year has been shockingly bad.

        1. 2010 and 2012 were great years for racing.

      2. It’s mostly to do with the tighter test on the moving parts on the front wing. The parts on the front wing are more rigid and don’t react to the wind loads as before. This reduces the amount the wing compensates for the reduced relative speed of the wind over it. The solution is to relax the flex test in the front wing to levels of last year’s test or even to the limits of 2013. I’ve been saying this for sometime. The FIA can easily correct this situation.

    2. @viscountviktor Yes @cocaine-mackeine Not the tyres, but the FIA making the noses lower than last year. 2014 noses allowed more air under them to the back of the car – this caught out Red Bull at the start of this year.

      1. @racectrl @fastiesty Thanks for the information. What really dissapoints me is that for 2017 the noses and the wings are practically staying the same. God help us :(

        1. @cocaine-mackeine Welcome to the world of formula 1. I’ve been waiting since the late 90s for them to fix the aero problem but at some point you have to accept that it will never happen. I really thought 2017 would be it but early indications suggest the same end result. The sport is broken from the inside.

      2. I think the noses are too low now, but they were too high in 2012. Remember in Grosjean’s Soa crash his front wheels were off of the ground when he touched Hamilton, and in Rosberg’s Abu Dhabi crash he flew over Karthikeyan.

        And in the first race of 2014 there was the Massa/Kobayashi crash. I forget who was in front, but the car behind lifted up the car in front. The nose was too low here.

        If you look at Formula E you can see high close the cars can follow each other, and their noses are about as high as F1’s 2010/2011 noses. But if you saw the first lap of Monaco in FE, you’ll see that they’re a hazard even at low speeds.

        I think you can only do so much with the noses before you need to look at other parts of the car. The thing is, though, the FIA does this slowly.

        1. Not many things Karthikeyan is remembered for…. But those crashes he had, always come up somehow somewhere.

        2. So pleased someone mentioned Karthikeyan. The media always say that Lewis is the first black driver…..not

        3. A Formula E car doesn’t travel fast enough to disturb the air does it?!

          hehe

    3. I’m pretty sure when watching the SKY broadcast of the Melbourne GP one of the commentators was saying the lower noses were too blame for the cars not being able to follow one another this year. And really they’re dangerous as seen with Sainz wreck in Russia where the car submarined underneath the TechPro barriers. I really hope the FIA does something about them because not only are they ugly but they’re ruining the racing as well.

      1. Not to mention we’ve seen those low noses flip other cars in collisions at least twice.

        1. Exactly they’re dangerous and all the FIA has to do is bring up the current front bulkhead of the cars a few centimeters and they’ll be much better off. And I’m sure all of the teams would be much happier with higher noses allowing them to try different designs that don’t look like male genitalia.

        2. @brentrockwood Not sure if the low noses were to blame on those crashes. If you see Gutierrez on Bahrain and Massa on Germany they flipped because Maldonado and Magnussen respectively made heavy contact with their front tyres on the rear tyres of Gutierrez/Massa. Also Magnussen’s and Maldonado’s front wings weren’t badly damaged after the crashes, which suggests the low noses had nothing to do with the contact.

          If we are going to have decent and safe noses on F1 then we need to have noses that aren’t so low neither high. A good example coukd be the nose from the Virgin of 2011 or Ferrari 2010.

    4. I wonder if it’s just the Mercedes.
      It often seems to have cooling or tyre problems running closely behind another car.
      It’s possible the aero was designed to start from pole and lead races (and maybe create a messy wake so other cars couldn’t follow it)

      Good looking car though – I’ll appreciate it more in a year or two when it’s not so familiar. I hope the high-nosed gompers from the last 5 or 6 years never come back…

  11. 4/10. Very dull… seemed like a very long race, even if it was just 1 hour and a half.

    Kudos to Verstappen for providing such an exciting fight in the lower point scoring positions. That move on Perez was one of the many moments of this year when you realize what an extraordinary talent he is.

  12. 3. That was awful. Thankfully we have Max Verstappen who is the only driver able to produce some sort of excitement. DRS, yet again, turned this into a parade. I spent more of the race laughing at Mercedes’ Tweets than I did enjoying the on-track action.

    1. @craig-o Do you think there would be more passing without DRS?

      1. So what if there isn’t?
        Should be about quality rather than quantity!

        At least without DRS every overtake would be exciting to watch rather than the utterly boring, easy & super dull highway passing DRS constantly produces!

        Watching drivers press a button & get an uncontested, easy, skill-less highway pass is devoid of any interest, excitement or tension & its clear from all recent fan surveys & polling that the vast majority of F1 fans feel the same way!

        1. Exactly! 30 DRS highway passes are not as exciting as 30 non-DRS passes.

          1. I would honestly rather watch a race with no passing than a race filled with DRS passing. It does absolutely nothing for me.

          2. Well, I do not mind DRS-induced passes unless they fight in the braking zone like Vettel vs Button in Abu Dhabi 2012. But DRS highway “overtakes” are completely different matter.

          3. DRS didn’t make this race a parade. It’s the inherent ability (or lack there of) of the cars to follow each other. I don’t think you can create a rule set that will fix that, it’s not possible. So, for excitement we have to wait for chance. The DRS was brought in directly to deal with peoples complaints that the cars can’t pass.

            We have so many rules to try to make it more exciting. Why? Because the FIA constantly gets told F1 isn’t exciting enough. So many rules are just the FIA back pedaling to deal with our next round of complaints.

            Look it from the FIA’s perspective. You’re saying, get rid of DRS and make F1 more exciting and less of a procession. But you can’t do both.

            You can say that DRS is worse than no passing, but every time there is a less than exiting race it gets rate the race results like this. The FIA gets that feedback and then see’s that people want the cars to be able to pass and compete. You’re asking them to make F1 more processional. How can they do that when that get complaints that it is not exciting enough?

            I would rather no DRS, but I understand that a boring race may be normal sometimes. But Craig wanted excitement, so do most by the look of it.

      2. I believe that there would be better passing without DRS.

        1. Indeed. And it’s a tautology as without DRS drivers would be forced to execute better passes.

    2. Agreed. Somehow, Verstappen is consistently able to overtake, where others say it is impossible. And, arguably save Monaco, he’s able to do it without incident.

      1. It’s funny that you say that.
        I would also let the kamikaze behind overtake if he pulled some of those moves on me.
        Unlike most of the people, I find Verstappen reckless.
        He puts himself and the other drivers in impossible situations.
        Some call it racing and “great overtaking”, I still think it’s too aggressive.

        1. Verstappen is no more reckless than Hamilton in GP2 and his first years of F1. That, too, made very exciting racing. Remember his GP2 drive from the back in Turkey, or his GP2 win from 8th on the grid at Silverstone?

          Then he spent a year occupying the same piece of track as Massa, and started getting penalised. Since then he has been much more restrained (except with Rosberg?).

          1. Yeah, maybe it’s me Ian.
            I still think I wouldn’t mind watching Verstappen one season in GP2 and let him have it, than currently seeing him behind the TR.

            I’m sure I’ll get over it and he will soon convince me that he’s in F1 for his own value.
            Cheers

  13. That’s the 1st time since 2000 that I’m watching F1 that i think it was a waste of time to watch the race. Not even in Schumacher or Vettel years this thought ever cross my mind…

    1. Which race in 2000 would have been a waste of time? I remember that year quite fondly

      1. Oh you meant after 2000. Makes sense

    2. We all know how dominating was Ferrari in 2001 and 2002 but not even once that season i was not dissapointed by any race at all. I was furius when both of my drivers falled to finish, but the races were still interesting, even though they werent winning races. I started watching F1 in 98 and until last years and this season i was really loving the sport. This last 2 seasons im starting to struggle to prepare myself to watch a race, because the result is almost everytime predictable….with few exceptions…so far only 3 races were worth watching and nothing looks like the number will increase

      1. I was not watching back then but at least F1 was pure in early 2000s. It might have been dull but any action was genuine and enjoyable. During all these years watching F1 there may have been boring races which I never looked upon again in replay but watching live the tension was immense. I no longer has it.

    3. Agreed. I’m at the point where I probably won’t watch the next race and that will be the first missed race in over 30 years. I can accept the aero issues inhibiting close racing, but with the bullet proof reliability, the limited options for race strategies and the extent to which the engineers manage a race, we pretty much know the finishing positions after the first corner.

  14. 4…. Like a Royal procession..Dull as dishwater

  15. 2/10. relly boring! mercedes not allowing any strategy switch or anything! They seem “warm” to someone (pun intended)!!

  16. Don’t know how its possible for the Brazilian GP to be so dull. Very disappointed in Mercedes all year to not slow drivers to try different strategies. I understand but its still disappointing.

    Vettel and Mad Max the only ones to impress.

    As far as the rest goes. DRS and tyres. Hate this current way of racing. 5/10, and I’m in a generous mood.

    1. ALLOW, not slow. Oops.

    2. I fully agree that it’s lame by Merc to not allow their drivers different strategies. It would be in their best interest to allow that, because it would make their wins exciting and get better media

      1. A clear indication, if you needed one, that the teams don’t really care about the fans. All they care about is winning.

    3. From what I understood from the podium interview, Hamilton himself declined the alternate strategy to try and save his tyres.

      Although by the time they suggested this to him, he already ruined his tyres trying to stay close to Nico so it would never have worked anyway.

    4. @sham I agree that it might be dull, but I spent far too many races in the refuelling era which was decided in the pit lane and on the strategy wall, and that wasn’t very exciting.

      1. Lewis’ engineers would have known that pitting him earlier would put him in with a chance of winning – Nico would react by pitting and it would have been really close. To be repeated at the next stops.

        Would have made the race thrilling, instead of being decided by the team bosses.

        Would have given Rosberg a possible shot at the title too, though Hamilton was the better driver all year.

        I don’t understand why, it the team wants them to fight, they don’t allow them to try their best.

  17. One of the most uneventfull races so far, im afraid it was even worse than Australian GP, which is quite an achievement – but not in the good way by far. 2/10 and im feeling very generous…

    1. Snap. First race this season i have awarded a 2. It was so bad that i zoned out and stopped paying attention. Only reason i give it a 2 was for Verstappen’s move on Perez.

  18. Those saying it was between 1-5 were clearly watching a completely different race.

    I’d give it 7/10,

    Lots of close racing, Lots of great battles, Fair bit of overtaking & some good tension with the battle at the front at times…. Good race, Enjoyed watching that!

    1. im asking myself what were u drinking/eating during the race to give it a 7? What i saw was a boring procession with no retirements, contacts and only push the button to overtake action. Sorry, but caalling this enjoyable is a bit ridiculus. The quality of sport has fallen well under any exceptable level…

      1. Well I saw a race with plenty of action, Lots of close racing, Good level of overtaking & a lot of tension with the gap at the front going up & down…. I enjoyed it & think it fully deserves the 7 I gave it!

        1. Nothing interesting happened for like, 50 laps, except for Verstappen and a few high-way DRS passes. If you think this is a 7/10, by that logic, Brazil 2012 was a 23/10

      2. @proteus I’m guessing you meant ‘acceptable’, which is what I found the race given the current rule set.

    2. Or perhaps those who gave it between 1 and 5 merely have different opinions to you? This would be a mighty dull place if everyone just agreed with you.

  19. 7 from me.

    Was a really enjoyable race.

  20. 1/10
    Change stupid “no development” rules or we can all just go to sleep for 2016. No way anything will change next year.Maybe Vettel steals 3 wins like this year but in terms of most (team) race wins and WCC we all know who will win next year.And one more thing,enable that cars can follow each other because this is a freaking joke.

    1. What are you talking about no development? They have the same opportunity as last year and if Ferrari can go from nowhere to a couple tenths behind this year pretty much anyone can end up in front next year dont be so melodramatic.

  21. I almost fell asleep during the race. Okay, there were some nice overtakes when thankfully DRS wasn’t enough to just fly past someone, but overall the race simply lacked excitement. For example, Hamilton tried to push Rosberg, but just couldn’t do anything. Behind them most of the cars just circled round.

  22. It felt a bit flat at times, but there really was an actual (attempt at?) a fight for the lead – I do really regret, once again, Mercedes’ choice to not let drivers fight each other through strategy. And the 2nd half of the points positions were fiercely fought over to keep us occupied, so solid race I’d give it an 8/10.

    1. Mercedes’ strategy choices are always confusing to me. For a team that supposedly wants Ferrari to be faster for the sake of the “show” of F1, they shoot themselves in the foot every race that they let the pit wall set the strategy and refuse to let the drivers have any say. They’ve solidified both places in the championship already; why not let Lewis make a few risky strategy calls? In Brazil and as in Mexico, I feel like Mercedes are yet again showing how mechanical they can be in their operations.

      I really do hope Ferrari can put some real pressure on the Silver Arrows next year to see just how sturdy that racing machine called Mercedes is.

      1. @omegadetra

        They’ve solidified both places in the championship already; why not let Lewis make a few risky strategy calls?

        Hamilton won 11 races and 12 poles with this same strategy. Why change now? Because Lewis isn’t winning poles or passing Nico at the start (like Suzuka and Austin?).

        For the life of me, I can’t imagine folks would be making a big deal of allowing alternate strategies if Rosberg was behind and Hamilton leading/winning these races.

        And Lewis should lighten up, he’s a 3x WDC and he’s racing in F1.

        1. I’m less interested in Lewis winning the race than I am in Mercedes letting Lewis switch his strategy, possibly get stuck behind traffic, and have to navigate back to the front.

          If Rosberg were behind and asked for a strategy change, I’d be all for it. The problem is that he subscribes to Mercedes’ strategy policies, while Hamilton doesn’t as much.

          I haven’t been a fan of how Mercedes have handled their strategies at all during their two years of dominance, but that’s largely because they have so much of an advantage that they can get away with it.

    2. By your logic was Brazil 2012 a 30/10?

  23. Have to say that contrary to others here I thought that was quite a good race which I thoroughly enjoyed throughout.

    7/10.

  24. A solid 5/10 I thought. A lot of commenters seem to be rating it much lower, but I think that’s a little unfair on their part. Yeah, the battle up front was non-existent for much of the race as Hamilton struggled to follow Rosberg, but the midfield did more than its fair share to make up for it as they had some good overtaking moves going on, particularly with Verstappen as always and Nasr’s move on Button. It’s a dull race, sure, but not terrible by any means.

  25. Not an exiting race, but more often than not that’s a result of circumstance.

  26. 2/10 verstappens overtake on perez was the only highlight, spent the rest of the race just trying not to fall asleep

  27. Three boring races at Brazil in a row. This one not as bad as the other two with some good moments, but really an average race overall. 6/10

    1. its because they added the 2nd drs zone on the straight to turn 1, removed an opportunity to see real overtaking!

  28. seems too boring all action were for place 6 and up! Gave it a 5 for those doing something like Max, the lotus guys and Ricardo.

    I really hope they make the front wing so small (between the front wheels) so they can follow the front car better.

  29. We need sprinkles systems only rains make fun races!

  30. 7/10 Did look promising at one point when Lewis was close, dissapointed that he played it safe rather than attack Nico. There were good battle down the order, Maldonado once again helping the crash counter website.

  31. Dull as ditchwater. I bumped it up a couple of points due to young Max’s overtakes which made it a 3.
    I find it somewhat ironic that Rosberg is in the form he is when it no longer matters.

  32. think i will give it a 7.

    saw plenty of good racing, was some excitement at the front at times with lewis closing the gap and while some passes were too easy with drs there was also some good overtakes and some good battling.

    i think those giving it way lower scores are maybe upset hamilton fans because there is no way this was as boring as some make out!

  33. I hope Max Verstappen never gets a top car, or not only the front and rear is boring but also the midfield.

    Race itself was another average production of FIA’s combination of boring rules. 6/10

  34. I don’t know why but it just felt like a soul-sapping race. Even when the front two were close there was zero tension – no pass was ever going to happen. There was the odd decent move further down the field but most of the overtakes I saw were drive-by DRS jobbies. Or rather, replays of drive-by DRS jobbies.

    It wasn’t the worst race in the world because I enjoyed following a couple of battles, but… definitely a ‘bottom half’ race so far as excitement was concerned.

  35. 4/10

    Verstappen his racing skills kept me watching this gp. If it wasn’t for him I would have probably rather taken my bicycle for a spin than watch this boring race.

  36. I’m amazed how dull that race ended up being. Verstappen gave us some entertainment but that was about it as even Hamilton’s assault on Rosberg was stunted not by the fact the latter was faster, but by how bad these cars are at following each other and this on a track famous for wheel to wheel racing.

  37. A poor 4 for me. Mostly DRS overtakes and terrible coverage showing only replays of most overtakes due to focusing on the wrong bits when live. I also don’t understand the monopoly commentators have on podium interviews. Austria had Arnie, I’m sure there could have been someone else to do the interviews

  38. An uneventful start, far too many highway passes, no battles for the leading positions, only a few real battles elsewhere, mainly thanks to Verstappen. Also, there are no interesting championship battles left. Probably the worst race of the year. 3/10.

  39. 2/10. Boring race. Great one for Rosberg, Vettel, Nasr.

  40. 7/10. Decent race.
    It was interesting to see Rosberg vs Hamilton, but to be honest I would have loved different strategies between the two, since they couldn’t fight on track.
    As for the rest.. well, only 4 drivers completed every single racing lap, the first 8 places were more or less set in stone after the start, the battle for the last places of the points was interesting as usual. Yeah, pretty normal race, especially considering that it’s the end of the championship, there’s not much at stake.

    1. @yobo01 I wouldn’t say there isn’t much at stake. Kimi vs. Bottas, STR vs. Lotus… plenty of (money) to be gained.

  41. IMO Mercedes are very much to blame persisting with the single strategist, single strategy, and the leader-first rule.

    They haven’t actually needed this since Oz and it’s very unfair on fans, with the car advantage they have. It’s poor, Toto.

    1. @lockup
      I could not possibly agree more. A giant +1

  42. 3/10 for me and it only got the the 3 because young Max did a few interesting things. Once Merc decided to keep Lewis on the same strategy with the same tyres…I left and went to the gym because there was clearly nothing that was going to change.
    I feel Merc owes F1 and the fans better than that. They have Constructor’s Trophy, WDC and even 2nd place for Nico already wrapped up in any real world. Yet they won’t even split strategy to give the fans some drama and a race up front???
    As a card carrying Merc fan who walked all over Montreal and COTA with my Merc shirts….I found myself pulling for Seb to pass them both as Ferrari at least had the stones to try some split strategy.

  43. 4 for the dull and boring race.

    +1 for Max and his drive. Truly a future world champ.

    5/10.

  44. I’m surprised that I’ve actually woken up just an hour after that “race”. I thought it would send me to sleep for hours. I’ll replay it if I ever have trouble getting to sleep in the future. Dull. Dull. Dull.
    2/10.

  45. I fell asleep 2/10

  46. Certainly a below average race, there was overtaking but not much drama or excitement save for Verstappen on the outside of T1. The rest were straightforward DRS passes, and there was no real danger of anything happening up front. Rosberg controlled Hamilton and Vettel was a distant third, himself way ahead of Kimi.

    4/10.

  47. Boring Lewis not allowed to mount a proper attack and no real battles in the top half

  48. This track really needs either a fast car catching up from behind or some weather influence to be great. Because we had that for quite some years (prior to 2014) at least I was starting to thing it is the track that always provides great racing. But it seems it isn’t (always). Anyway, could have been worse. 4-5 /10

  49. 6/10 because the drivers did their best to make it interesting – but ruining most overtakes going into turn 1 is something that should have never been done! The tow was incredible on its own, and while it help people with slower engines (Verstappen), DRS was too powerful – just look at Nasr. Nothing else springs to mind, which means it was boring. I was excited as I correctly predicted the top five for the first time, and actually found myself hoping for no surprises – and there weren’t.

  50. Honestly, I had much more fun looking at the latest Alonso photoshops.

  51. Rated 4. I didn’t mind or no hard feelings. I was doing away my sunday chores as I was watching the race so it was fine. :) Every race cannot be a nail biter. We have seen better or the THE BEST days in Brazil so…. this can be forgiven !!!! We all know what Interlagos is capable of.

  52. Actually quite dull for a Brazilian Grand Prix. Rather processional and the first time watching a race I was beginning to fall asleep.

    It’s a shame Rosberg decided to step up his game when it was too late though.

    I worry for 2016.

  53. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    15th November 2015, 19:11

    4/10

  54. The Race That Refused To End. Got there eventually, and inevitably though. I learnt something new tonight: it IS possible to lose consciousness with your eyes open.

  55. My glass is half full: 7/10.
    It was good to see Perez, Verstappen, Grosjean fight for position, Hamilton trying to beat Rosberg, and different strategies within the teams.
    Not happy with DRS, but on the flip-side DRS was the only reason Verstappen could overtake on the outside of turn 1.

    Coverage was not very good, missing some key action. And amazing how often they focussed on Verstappen as if he was a Brazilian.

  56. It’d sure make me happy if Merc would stop fixing the race result with their ridiculous inflexible strategy policies.

  57. Nick (@theawesomefish)
    15th November 2015, 20:17

    6/10 from me. Wasn’t quite as processional as other races have been this season, even if we did end up with the usual “Mercedes plus Vettel” group out in front. Even then there was some decent action between them, with Lewis trying to find a way past Nico, with Seb close enough to cause Lewis some problems with his strategy. Verstappen gave us another couple of great overtakes, Maldonado gave us another accident, and there were the usual few DRS position swaps across the race. Aside from that, though, there wasn’t really anything memorable from it.

  58. I turned the race off today. Not done that since the random f1 races of 2013. Not sure what’s going on but I honestly didn’t really care about the race.

  59. 3/10, if next year starts off with Mercedes dominating as they are now, i wont be watching it anymore.

  60. 3/10

    Waking up at 3am for yet another dull race in this 2015 season was pretty disappointing. Nothing exciting happened and Hamilton following Rosberg closely for a few laps was the only intriguing thing that happened, for me. About mid race distance I was counting down the laps and my eyes were struggling to stay open – which has also been the case for some evening races this year. Bring on 2016! Surely you can’t be any worse…..

  61. Total snorefest. I called the result at the first corner when Hamilton failed to make the pass, everything else from there was pointless.

    3/10 just for Mad Max making the only interesting overtake of the 71 laps.

  62. 2/10. awful race. Only entertaining bit was yesterday in qualifying with Alonso and Button. DRS moves are awful. No skill in them moves

  63. Mercedes bore me to tears. Could of been a great race. A few nice little battlles in the mid pack. Didnt help when you have to watch the Brazil race at 3:30 in the morning.
    i gave it a 3/10

  64. 4/10 . One for Rosberg, One For Grosjean, One for Versteppen and One for MALDONADO

  65. It deserves 4, because was very boring.

  66. Meh…

    3/10 There were some good battles from Verstappen, but otherwise the race was over by the 2nd corner

  67. I usually look forward to Brazil, but this year was a complete disappointment.

  68. Wasn’t an exciting race but it had racing. Hamilton may not have managed an attack on Rosberg but it was still interesting viewing watching them duke out lap times. It never felt like a procession and that they weren’t pushing, it just seemed Rosberg had the measure of Hamilton that day. 6/10

  69. Only because of the Verstappen entertaining drive i did not give a 2/10. 3 for me. So boring

  70. Rated it 2/10 as it bored me to the point of being glad I was watching it on catch-up, I found myself skipping through it and occasionally checking if anything had changed. I really don’t like DRS overtakes as once a car is in range it just drifts past on the straight with no real fight going on. There are many other race series out there who manage to get the balance right of aero versus mechanical grip while still allowing drivers the ability to race each other. Other than the DRS zones there were very few overtaking opportunities so it was a boring procession around the infield section playing follow-my-leader. If cars are in dirty air and their front wings are so sensitive that they can’t follow properly then something really needs to be done other than artificial overtakes. I’ve found myself falling asleep in front of more F! Races this year than any other year – is this really what they are aiming for with their attempts to improve the show? I don’t want a show, if I want a show I’ll go to the theater, I want racing at its best!

  71. Last race I got into a discussion about slipstreaming and strategy and one of the things proposed was: no pitstops (full tank of fuel, tyres that last the distance and no DRS) en let drivers have a genuine fight in the race. That would improve the quality of racing.

    Well, that’s exactly what we saw in Brazil between the Merc-boys.
    Yes, there were a few pitstops, but they were close enough to each to other not to have an impact on the running order.

    To my surprise, I see a lot of people complaining that Mercedes didn’t allow Hamilton to change his strategy. I can only say, maybe the Toto & Niki read this forum and follow the popular opinion. (Apparantly the popular opinion this week is directly opposed to the one from two weeks ago).

    By the way, how did we enjoy the “genuine passing” between the two front runners?

    Just make the slipstreaming a bit stronger and make tyres a bit more radical (more grip when new, less grip when worn across all compounds) and we have a spectacle.

  72. Nothing happened anywhere near the front of the race – the first 7 out of the first corner were in the same positions at the finish – so the drivers getting paid the most were the least entertaining.

    Chelsea won the premier league in 2005 by not making mistakes (conceding only 17 goals) and and were called boring. That seems to be what the current points system has caused in F1. Bernie put this system in place to make it more likely that the driver with the most wins would win the championship, but a side effect is that the teams at the front have been the least entertaining as they would rather have 15 or 18 points, rather than go for 25 and end up with 0. Almost all races in the last 6 seasons have been boring at the front, and only livened up by very occasional mistakes & failures. But excitement comes from mistakes and failures, not from the best team always winning.

    Ask any F1 engineer why cars are more reliable and they’ll tell you it is because of the current reward system: points and prizes.

  73. Always interesting to read the comments on DRS. Surely Verstappen his moves were not possible without DRS. I still think we should keep DRS in F1, the way it is being used though should really be investigated.

    1. His moves can only be measured by the size of his kahunas whilst going around the outside of turn one. DRS only got his Kia Rio engined chassis close enough.

      DRS wasn’t invented to make cars using Flintstone’s power equal to something with a better engine.

      Brazil 2009 was one of my favourite races ever, in terms of overtaking. No DRS then.

      Get rid of it.

  74. Only saved from the bottom grade by MV’s antics through the Senna Essess.

    Otherwise, it was utter dross.

    3/10

  75. 4/10 Was a very boring race.

  76. 5/10

    Vettel was closer to the Merc’s than Massa was last year but still a sub par race. Bring on 2016, Ferrari for the WDC.

  77. I gave it a 6. There was enough action going on to keep it interesting. The fight for 1st. Vettel trying hit utmost to keep up, get closer. The battles for 8th, for 12th, for 14th, for 18th.

    So how is it that Hamilton states you can not overtake here? We’ve seen enough drivers in similarly powered cars, or even worse, get close enough through all the dirty air to actually make a pass and even make it stick. Fresh Rubber? In some cases, yes. In some cases, maybe the driver was just better. Maybe Rosberg and Hamilton are very similar in performance.

    I tend to think that Verstappen making the pass on Nasr (or Perez?, Can’t remember the timeline here) was great entertainment, but ultimately allowed Grosjean to pass him. After that pass he didn’t benefit from DRS anymore and Grosjean could then easily get him on the main straight, although it still took him quite a few laps before that happened. Makes you wonder if the team strategist determines what happens. Would Toro Rosso Primo Stragist have held back Max if he/she could? It would have closed the gap to Lotus in the constructor championship.

  78. The day Max Verstappen gets a top running car is the day F1 will be exciting again.

  79. I rated the race a 6, I was tempted to give it a lower rating but I didn’t think it was significantly worse than the previous Grand Prix in Mexico and I gave that a 6.

    Yet again after the first lap there was no real doubt as to who would win because as long as he didn’t make a mistake or suffer reliability problems then Rosberg was always going to take the victory after he kept the lead at the start.

    It was a bit like last year in that Hamilton did seem quicker at certain points in the race but not by a big enough margin so as to overtake Rosberg.

    Rosberg said afterwards that he was just controlling the race, but letting the gap fall to below a second and so allowing Hamilton into DRS range is not what I would have thought was controlling the race, but if he knew that even with DRS Hamilton couldn’t get past maybe he was controlling the race.

    There was some overtaking further down the field, with some excellent moves by Verstappen which helped the race rating.

    A lot seems to have been made in the media of Rosberg beating Hamilton again and it mainly seems to be saying that Rosberg has upped his game, while that may be part of the reason I think Hamilton relaxing after winning his third title is also a factor.

    Even if you don’t follow social media or the celebrity world much and just stick to the F1 press you would have noticed Hamilton’s partying since the championship was decided culminating in his car crash in Monaco in the week leading up to the race.

    There may have been some technical changes in the car in recent races which suited Rosberg more than Hamilton or it may simply be a mental thing with the two drivers, Rosberg performing better when the pressure was lifted after he lost any realistic chance of winning the title, and Hamilton easing off after winning the title. I don’t think we can really judge until we see how they perform over the course of next season if Rosberg has indeed managed to find another level.

    Regarding 2016, in the past I have read comments from former world champions regarding how hard it can be to win back to back titles, now that Hamilton has won two in a row and three in total we will have to see if he can manage to lift himself for a season long championship fight again next year.

    Apart from there obvious skills as F1 drivers, one of the things that impressed me about both Schumacher and Vettel was that they managed to maintain such a high performance level for so many seasons in a row.

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