1. Sebastian Vettel (up 6)
No doubt a quality Ferrari and an underperforming Raikkonen helps our perception of him, I have not forgotten last year when he was convincingly beaten by Daniel Ricciardo. Yet he was so consistent and impressive this year, and had been in the past in so many other cars, other circumstances, that I'm more inclined to declare 2014 an anomaly rather than his more usual level. Was pretty much nearly flawless all year long.
2. Lewis Hamilton (no change)
Another impressive title, though it's funny despite rating him extremely highly and the fact he's won 3 titles now, I think I'm yet to place him 1st in any of these rankings. I know he's got a pretty tough team-mate, and he dominated Nico throughout most of the season, more convincingly than last year, yet the form at the end of the year with Nico getting 6 poles in a row and Lewis losing a few of those races, leads me to think Lewis whilst fantastic isn't quite boogeyman level like some past top drivers were (ex. Michael Schumacher).
3. Jenson Button (up 2)
A quiet season of excellence in an hilariously craptacular car. It was tough to compare both McLaren drivers in such machinery, yet there remains the feeling both were well matched - surprisingly so even, given most of us, myself included, rated Alonso higer - and Jenson not just outscored Alonso (a poor measure with such bad reliability, admitedly), but also outqualified him and raced him a couple of times, if not always. He might be getting old, and forgotten fighting for places outside of the points, but if anything this season actually made me rate him higher than before.
4. Fernando Alonso (down 3)
I pretty much said everything whilst appraising Jenson, but Fernando hasn't exactly forgotten completely how to drive, has he? I think we're all dead sure he's still one of the best drivers in F1. However his own recent admission he hasn't been driving to his best level, made it easier for myself to downgrade him just slightly.
5. Daniel Ricciardo (down 2)
I'm not forgetting he beat Vettel fairly and clearly, and I don't think the points table this year is a fair reflection of the Red Bull drivers, but it's still a fact he was outscored by Kvyat, and occasionally (if not that often) outraced/qualified by the Russian driver. Also I think his racecraft started looking off, which is strange as that used to be his one real strength. Still one of the best drivers in F1, and still the best Red Bull contracted driver.
6. Nico Rosberg (down 2)
I thought he was underwhelming most of the year and looked like losing speed to Lewis, and completely lost mentally, but reclaimed a bit of ground and reputation with a solid end to the season. Still worthy of a top seat.
7. Max Verstappen (new entry)
Absurdly strong season for a 18 year old rookie with a total of 1 season in cars before F1, and I genuinely think he's already closing in on the pack of the best drivers in F1. The points total and gap to Sainz is slightly flattered by the circumstances, but there's no denying he put some incredibly impressive drives.
8. Dannil Kvyat (up 6)
Starting to impress me, as I found myself voting regularly for him in the Voting Championship throughout the second half of the season. There remains a feeling that usually Ricciardo's quicker, and has made the young Russian look slow here and there, but Kvyat not only beat him in points (if misleading) but also overall seemed closer to Ricciardo than Vettel was last year. An underrated driver.
9. Romain Grosjean (no change)
Continues to be not just much more consistent than Maldonado (the relatively easy part) but also genuinely quicker, which is very impressive. The Lotus hasn't allowed him to shine the past 2 seasons but I believe he's driving better than ever, and whilst taking the Haas seat hoping for a future Ferrari is a big gamble, the Scuderia could do far worse than to look at him and give him a chance.
10. Sergio Pérez (up 2)
A surprise revival season than saw him impose himself over Hulkenberg, although the Force India duo has constant swings of form either way. This is the one thing that makes me very unsure about them - is it that they take turns into having wonderful drives, or is it that they're just inconsistent? Nevertheless, Sergio's doing a decent job of restoring some of his reputation.
11. Valtteri Bottas (down 5)
I find it almost impossible to separate the Williams guys from the Force India guys for different reasons - the Williams drivers' performance seems to be a lot less volatile, which could indicate a stronger, more consistent level, but usually this is also the case when you get a better, more predictable car. What I find damning about Bottas is that to assert himself as a true top prospect, Massa is a benchmark he should be comfortable beating, even if Felipe is a bit revitalized after leaving Ferrari. That hasn't happened and instead Valtteri's advantage seems to have diminished.
12. Nico Hulkenberg (down 4)
Another driver that I'm losing my faith in. When he's on he's wonderful, he looked a genuine top driver those few GPs after the Le Mans win, but there's just way too many periods of bad form. I'd still give him a seat if I were a team manager, he's an extremely reliable pair of hands, but not quite a like-for-like replacement for a Hamilton or a Vettel is he?
13. Felipe Massa (no change)
Pretty much his routine consistent, unspectacular self. It's anyone's guess how much has he improved since he left Ferrari, if he did. Good marks for putting a strong fight to Bottas.
14. Carlos Sainz Jr (new entry)
It has become a popular thing to say Sainz has been impressive with a strong rookie season, but in comparison to what? He's been put against a 18 year old - who we think is very good but hasn't been properly benchmarked himself - in a team without expectations, with an actually pretty good chassis. My gut feeling is that Sainz is indeed a good driver, and has been a bit let down by luck in terms of points, has made few mistakes for a rookie, but I don't see any convincing arguments to rate him any higher than the drivers ahead of him in this list. Yet.
15. Kimi Raikkonen (up 2)
Perhaps slightly closer to Vettel than he was to Alonso last year, mostly race pace, but it's hardly a large difference, he's still being vastly outperformed. Two words come to mind about Kimi: "past it". Still probably worth a place in F1 - just about -, but Ferrari's decision to hold on to him feels overly conservative.
16. Kevin Magnussen (no change)
My tradition of rating every single driver who's taken officially part in a GP, to make up a chart, puts me in silly situations like this - how do I rate Kevin who qualified once and then didn't even start the race? By placing him where I think his talent ranks, which is, not coincidentally, the exact same place I put him in last year. The only data we have on 2015 is he was outqualified by 6 tenths by Jenson, which isn't great, but who knows whether those McLaren were working well anyway (hint: they weren't).
17. Felipe Nasr (new entry)
A great start to his year made me think of the time he was starting to show up in the feeder series - he looked like Latin America's possible next great champion. However, as the season progressed, he looked more like the mildly consistent but fairly unremarkable driver of his GP2 years - being outperformed by Ericsson every other race, considering how poor Marcus looked last year, wasn't a great benchmark to be behind. Still came comfortably ahead of him in points, which I guess makes for a decent rookie season.
18. Alexander Rossi (new entry)
Surprisingly seemed to have the better of Stevens in the few race weekends he had, specially in qualifying - despite having little preparation, having come on midway through the season. I don't rate Rossi particularly high but the American driver certainly didn't embarass himself.
19. Will Stevens (up 3)
Looked like the least qualified of all the Manor drivers, which is why I found surprising he seemed to have a huge advantage over Mehri. This made Will look good, certainly better than last year, but the performances of Rossi brought the perception of Will back to reality.
20. Pastor Maldonado (up 1)
Hasn't looked right ever since he found himself next to a quicker Romain Grosjean - has just been way too ragged, making people forget his strong performances of the past and justifying the jokes about him. A string of decent, points-scoring performances at the end of the season rescued some degree of respectability for him.
21. Marcus Ericsson (up 2)
Surprisingly held his own against Nasr in the second half of the season, which was far more respectable than his really poor 2014 for Caterham. Yet it wasn't entirely incidental that Nasr beat him by quite a few points.
22. Roberto Merhi (new entry)
A career killing year. I actually rated him pretty highly prior to this, and was pleasantly surprised he found his way to F1. It didn't go well at all, as apart from a few outliers Stevens was comfortably quicker. Some suggested he was given lesser equipment, but given how much better Rossi did in his place, that sounds unlikely. Have a good career in touring cars/GTs/LMPs, Roberto.