#SaturdayChill: A Brief History of Formula 1.5

With the F1 season at the summer break, I'm going to do two articles on it this week: this #SaturdayChill post and a mid season report card later. Today, I'm going to take a look back at Formula 1.5: the somewhat famous race series with the cars from red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari excluded. I'll begin in 2009, considering that was when the last drastic rule changes occurred that changed the balance of the grid; in 2014, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were already the top 3 before the hybrid introduction. Let's begin.

2009:

Driver's: Jarno Trulli, Team's: Toyota

Toyota finished fifth in 2009 and won the Formula 1.5 event. Trulli did finish eighth in the championship for drivers, which is technically outside Formula 1.5, but that was more due to Alonso having a rubbish year than Toyota being the equal to Ferrari and McLaren.

2010:

Driver's: Nico Rosberg, Team's: Mercedes

Mercedes, back when they were not the force they were today, dropped far enough from Brawn to be eligible for the 1.5 title, and Nico Rosberg was clear seventh. With that said, had Michael Schumacher's return been more impressive, they might not have been and that title would then have fallen to Renault. Another aside is that Rosberg is the first 1.5 winner to win a World Driver's Championship.

2011:

Driver's: Nico Rosberg, Team's: Mercedes

Same same, and Renault was even 2nd again. Schumacher had a better year and finished runner up in 1.5.

2012:

Driver's: Nico Rosberg, Team's: MErcedes

Same once again. However, what's worth noting is that Lotus jumped completely from second in 1.5 to a top racing team, 160 points clear of Merc. Nico Rosberg then moved into the top 4 with Mercedes.

2013:

Driver's: Jenson Button, Team's: McLaren

A change mostly brought on by a disastrous year both for Button's McLaren teammate Sergio Perez and the team itself, Jenson Button became the first driver to win a 1.5 title after winning the World Driver's Championship (in 2009). McLaren never re-emigrated to the top 3/4 whereas Lotus also dropped out and Williams joined the top.

2014:

Driver's: Fernando Alonso, Team's: Ferrari

Ferrari took a while to adapt to the new regulations with the F-150 F1 being an absolute dog. Alonso never returned to a top team, joining McLaren in 2015 and then leaving for Toyota's WEC in 2018.

2015:

Driver's: Sergio Perez, Team's: Force India

Perez had improved markedly for Force India since his release by McLaren and won the Formula 1.5 championship with teammate Nico Hulkenburg second. Lotus in their final year finished second.

2016:

Driver's: Sergio Perez, Team's; Force India

While it seems to be same same as last year, it's much closer and more varied at the top. Bottas finished second with Hulkenburg third. Williams were definitely second by a large margin with McLaren off the pace in third.

2017:

Driver's: Sergio perez, Team's: Force India

Another threepeat, this time for Perez and FOrce India. The teams championship was confusing this year due to the mid season madness at Toro Rosso and Renault with Renault, aided by Sainz, finishing 3rd behind Williams.

2018:

Driver's: Nico Hulkenburg, Team's Renault

Well, this year also had some mid season madness with Force India being liquidated and replaced by Racing Point in the summer break. Nico Hulkenburg moved to Renault and ended up wining the chamipionship, whereas Perez finished second and Magnussen third for Haas. Force India would have finished second if not for the mid season liquidation; Haas and McLaren inherited 2nd and 3rd as a result.

2019 (leaders after Hungary):

Driver's: Carlos Sainz Jr, Team's: McLaren

McLaren's resurgence began this year with a very good year with two happy drivers. Gasly doesn't count this year considering he has had half a season with Red Bull, and Albon is also invalidated. Raikkonen and Kvyat are 2nd and 3rd with Toro Rosso and Renault on the podium in the manufacturer's.

Thanks for reading this article! Do you think Sainz and McLaren will win the Formula 1.5 Championship in2019? Let me know in the comments!