Would F1 2015 be better without Mercedes?

The cries are exasperated and oft repeated within and without the Formula 1 paddock. There were murmurings last year, but the volume has been loud and clear since March's season-opening Australian Grand Prix: Mercedes' continued domination is bad news for F1.

"The problem is the gap is so big you end up with three-tier racing," argued Red Bull boss Christian Horner in Melbourne. "And that is not healthy for F1."

We are now 13 races further along the road towards the outcome of the 2015 world championship. Would F1 be in better shape without Mercedes running away with things at the front? Would the races be more exciting? Would the title race be closer?

Would those fans that have deserted F1 in the face of pay-per-view rollouts across the world suddenly be clamouring for Sky subscriptions?

Let's find out.

March 2, 2015. Mercedes falls foul of new regulations introduced to level the playing field in F1 and is deemed to be too dominant, undermining 'the show'.

Melbourne: Massa tries to fend off Vettel for the lead © LAT

The FIA convenes an extraordinary court hearing ahead of the first race in Australia and decrees the team should be banned from the championship immediately for one year.

At the stroke of a pen the grid temporarily loses its most dominant entity. Forced into a sabbatical instead of his planned title defence, Lewis Hamilton heads for the Barbados beaches, and declares he will spend the season focusing on his music career in the United States. Nico Rosberg elects to spend a year on the sidelines raising a family, and helping his wife out with her ice cream business.

With Mercedes out of the picture - but still duty-bound to honour customer engine supply deals with Williams, Force India and Lotus - the season gets off to a superb start in Melbourne.

Felipe Massa's Williams narrowly defeats both Ferrari drivers in a thrilling battle for pole position, as 0.072 seconds covers the top three in qualifying. Massa and Sebastian Vettel then engage in a tense, tactical fight for victory, which Vettel wins by jumping the Williams in the pits.

Felipe Nasr is hailed the new Ayrton Senna, after finishing on the podium on his F1 debut for Sauber. Everyone declares F1 is sensational to watch with Mercedes out of the picture.

Things are a little more muted in Malaysia, where Vettel romps to victory unchallenged from pole. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen storms through from mid-grid to finish second, well clear of the two Williams drivers.

Raikkonen is on better form in China, though, recovering from a poor qualifying session with a mega first lap to jump the Williams pair. The Finn chases after Vettel gamely, but has to settle for a narrow second place, comfortably clear of the two Williams until the safety car intervenes late on when Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso becomes stranded on the start/finish straight.

F1 gets misty-eyed the following week in Bahrain when Raikkonen claims his first grand prix win since re-signing for the Scuderia. He dominates the race after Vettel goes off at the final corner, damages his front wing, then gets stuck behind Valtteri Bottas's Williams.

Barcelona: yet another dominant Vetttel win © LAT

Vettel hits back a fortnight later in Spain, though, where he takes a dominant fourth win of the season from his fourth straight pole position. This time it's Raikkonen's turn to get stuck behind Bottas, in a distant duel for second.

When Vettel scores his fifth win from six starts (again from pole) in Monaco, the pundits begin muttering about Ferrari's dominance. After Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo both outfox Raikkonen to score Red Bull's first podium finishes of the campaign, those same pundits bemoan the fact Raikkonen is unable to give his new team-mate a proper run for his money.

Engine trouble in qualifying finally breaks Vettel's Saturday spell in Canada, allowing Raikkonen to score a narrow pole position (his first since the 2008 French GP) over Bottas.

Williams's own flying Finn claims his maiden grand prix victory in the race, after a rogue torque setting causes Raikkonen to spin away his lead at the hairpin. Vettel and Massa storm from the back to finish third and fourth.

Vettel is back in charge next time out in Austria, until a pitstop delay hands the initiative to Massa, who thus scores Williams's second consecutive race victory, the Brazilian's first since the 2008 Brazilian GP.

Williams continues its strong form in Britain - locking out the front row of the grid and dominating the race until rain falls at the perfect time for Vettel to steal victory on an off-form weekend for Ferrari.

The media now suggests the German can walk on water after opening up an 80-point lead over Bottas in the title race.

Vettel strikes an even bigger blow next time out in Hungary, dominating from pole as Williams struggles on a low-speed track, before a spectacular rear tyre failure for Vettel opportunistically hands Romain Grosjean his maiden F1 win for the beleaguered Lotus team in Belgium three weeks later.

Monza: Raikkonen celebrates beating Vettel to pole © LAT

In Italy, Raikkonen takes his second pole of the season in the updated Ferrari, but blows the start with 'finger trouble' on his clutch, allowing Vettel to score his ninth win of the season in front of the delirious Tifosi.

Vettel makes it 10 from 13 next time out in Singapore, then follows up with win number 11 after jumping first-time poleman Bottas at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.

That result is enough to crown Vettel world champion for a fifth time, with five races to spare, while Raikkonen lies three points clear of Bottas in a close fight for second in the standings.

ALTERNATIVE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
(After 14 races)

1. Vettel, 299
2. Raikkonen, 169
3. Bottas, 166
4. Massa, 147
5. Kvyat, 101
6. Ricciardo, 98
7. Grosjean, 78
8. Perez, 72
9. Hulkenberg, 62
10. Verstappen, 52

Ferrari is just a handful of races away from clinching the constructors' title too, and with it a sure-fire ban for 2016 under the new 'dominance laws'.

'Click'. And we're back in the room. The daydream is over.

Of course this is an unbelievably crude reimagining, but apart from the novelty of a close start in Australia, Williams's winning 'run' in June, and maiden GP victories for Bottas and Grosjean, it turns out F1 would arguably be less exciting if the Mercedes works team wasn't around.

Instead of moans about them, we'd be hearing complaints about Ferrari's supremacy, and how Vettel is again dominating the category in the fashion that earned it criticism during his Red Bull days.

F1 would still be 'three-tier', except those tiers would be Ferrari, then Williams, then the rest. The cries for Mercedes' swift return would surely grow more vociferous by the race.

Be careful what you wish for...