The top 10 FR3.5 drivers of 2015

The final year of Formula Renault 3.5 with Renault Sport backing evolved into a classic confrontation between Oliver Rowland and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

The racing between the top drivers was at an exceptional level, and in Rowland the championship has nurtured a bona fide future star.

After 11 years on the World Series by Renault package, the series now enters a new era in the hands of former joint organiser RPM for 2016.

Autosport reporter PETER MILLS ranks the season's leading drivers.

1 Oliver Rowland
Team: Fortec Motorsport
Starts: 17
Wins: 8
Championship: 1st

The class of the field, as a record-breaking number of both wins and points attest. Having proved a handful for last year's champion Carlos Sainz Jr during the second half of 2014, Rowland was certain he had reached new heights this season.

"Last year I was only at my best for around 40 per cent of the races. This year I was at 100 per cent every time out, and I needed to be to beat Matthieu," said Rowland.

If the final tally of eight victories was dazzling, it's worth considering Rowland's haul could so easily have entered double figures. In Monaco, Rowland topped his qualifying group, only to receive a puncture at Sainte Devote. A similar fate awaited him at the Nurburging, where he started on pole in race two but was sent spinning at the first corner.

The one positive side effect of these incidents was to provide an opportunity for Rowland to showcase his passing prowess. After limping back to the pits to change a puncture in Monaco, he was mesmeric as he forced his way through to sixth. His feats at the Nurburgring were even more astounding: he was last on lap one, but shot up to fifth within four laps.

Rowland and championship rival Vaxiviere engaged in superb duels at the Hungaroring, where they finished 20 seconds clear of the opposition, and at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Le Mans and Jerez. Refreshingly, they conducted the fierce racing with respect rather than animosity.

Mistakes were minimal, confined to running wide at the last corner on the last lap at the Hungaroring to concede second, and skating wide after clipping a wet kerb when leading at Jerez.

It would be criminal if Rowland's talent did not progress further. The Mercedes Formula 1 team appears to have recognised his abilities by handing him around 25 days of simulator time this year.

Those that have worked with Rowland for many years report he has grown greatly in maturity and confidence. Fortec, the Racing Steps Foundation, BRDC president Derek Warwick and Formula Renault 2.0 team Manor MP Motorsport deserve commendation for helping steer a rare talent into a complete driver.

2 Matthieu Vaxiviere
Team: Lotus (Charouz)
Starts: 17
Wins: 3
Championship: 2nd

A breakout year for Vaxiviere, who was a close match for champion Rowland on pace in many races and proved himself to be a captivating fighter. An injury-induced layoff in 2014 proved effective in focusing the Lotus F1 junior driver's mind and Vaxiviere came out of the blocks explosively.

Highlights from the season include: a stunning last lap pass around the outside of Nyck de Vries to win at Aragon; overtaking Nicholas Latifi around the outside into Pouhon at Spa for his second win; and emerging from a wheel-to-wheel first-lap battle with Rowland to take victory at the Red Bull Ring.

Although pitstops were a bugbear, the Charouz-run Lotus team worked exceptionally well, and Vaxiviere and technical director Michiel Gommers proved a potent partnership. The post-Spa rule change to scrap low aero configuration races on Saturdays upset Lotus, because of its intense winter test programme working on LAC and for reasons of principle against in-season rule changes. The changes made little difference on the track, where Vaxiviere remained as efficacious as ever.

Five pole positions and five fastest laps are more indicative of Vaxiviere's impact on the season than his three wins.

Eric Lux's Lotus junior programme appears certain to end this year, but Vaxiviere is deserving of a top GP2 drive or manufacturer deal for the coming season.

3 Nyck de Vries
Team: DAMS
Starts: 17
Wins: 1
Championship: 3rd

Losing a debut win on the last corner of the last lap could be regarded by some as an ignominious beginning for de Vries' introduction to FR3.5. However, the Dutchman's overall performance from pole at the Aragon opener lent weight to his status as a potential title threat. That victory took until the final round at Jerez to come was no disgrace.

De Vries, whose karting pedigree is arguably a match for that of rookie F1 star Max Verstappen, carried pressure from being in his fifth year on McLaren's books. To end the season as top rookie and third in the standings against quality opposition was laudable.

"To lose at the last corner at Motorland was probably my worst moment of the season," he said. "Unquestionably Jerez was the best. The win doesn't change the world but on a personal level it was enormously satisfying and, I have to admit, a huge relief."

4 Tio Ellinas
Team: Strakka Racing
Starts: 17
Wins: 2
Championship: 4th

The king of Friday testing, Ellinas initially struggled to deliver in races. However, everything came together at Strakka's home track, Silverstone.

Pole position was a prelude to a resoundingly dominant win, and went some way to validating why some in the paddock believed he was the closest competitor to Rowland and Vaxiviere on pure speed.

The victory had almost appeared destined not to happen. Ellinas was an early retiree at Aragon, got caught up in the Vaxiviere shunt in Monaco, squandered a front-row start at Spa after making a poor getaway, and even had to retire with grass in his sidepods at the Red Bull Ring after being squeezed off.

Payback came at the Nurburgring, where Ellinas slightly rode his luck to score a second win in foul conditions.

5 Dean Stoneman
Team: DAMS
Starts: 17
Wins: 0
Championship: 6th

Red Bull backing for this season clearly represented a potential big break for Stoneman. He entered the final round at Jerez placed third in the standings, a position he had maintained for much of the year. But a miscommunication on the radio, leading to an erroneous pitstop for slicks on an unsuitably damp track, and a fourth opening-lap incident of his season in race two undid much of the talented Stoneman's preceding hard work.

Monaco, where Stoneman drove exactingly and stayed out of trouble to claim second, would prove to be his joint-highest finish of the year, along with the Red Bull Ring, where he offered a challenge to eventual winner Rowland.

Qualifying was occasionally a source of frustration, and starting among the midfield led to a first-lap crash at the Red Bull Ring with Nicholas Latifi, contact with the slow-starting Alfonso Celis Jr away from the grid at Jerez, and costly opening-lap punctures at the Nurburgring and Silverstone.

It must be hoped that Stoneman's tribulations are behind him ahead of an anticipated end-of-season GP2 outing on his old stomping ground of Abu Dhabi.

6 Egor Orudzhev
Team: Arden Motorsport
Starts: 17
Wins: 2
Championship: 5th

Orudzhev burst to prominence at the Hungaroring, recording a shock front-row effort in qualifying. Far from being fazed by his presence at the sharp end, the SMP-backed driver made a perfect start and extended a healthy lead over the early laps.

A physical decline threatened to cost the youngster victory, but Orudhzev displayed fortitude by hanging on to win. Exhausted but relieved following the result, he quipped, "It was a bit difficult when you can't feel your hands..."

After a relatively lean spell, Orudzhev emerged as a contender for victories over the final two rounds. Arden had around six people leave during the summer, and fresh blood brought in. Whether these changes, along with Orudzhev addressing his fitness issues, contributed to the resurgence is difficult to gauge.

He certainly demonstrated an ability to maintain composure in the penultimate round at Le Mans. In race two, he rebuffed intense harassment from home favourite Vaxiviere to record his second win.

7 Jazeman Jaafar
Team: Fortec Motorsport
Starts: 17
Wins: 1
Championship: 8th

Entering the season with a third change of team in three years, Jazeman Jaafar finally found himself armed with championship winning equipment. Finishing second in a Fortec one-two at Aragon augured well for the partnership, and Jaafar blossomed to score a first-class win from pole in Monaco. He now led the championship, and maintained the position following a strong run to second at Spa. But his fortunes were soon to slip.

Initially at least, that was not due to his speed evaporating. In race two at Spa, a scorching effort from last on the grid, after scrutineering issues in qualifying, was arguably Jaafar's drive of the season.

Other dramas included a puncture at the Hungaroring and nose damage at Silverstone from hitting race leader Ellinas. However, Jaafar was at a loss to pinpoint the cause of his subsequent drop in form.

A decision on Jaafar's continued Petronas backing had not been taken during the season, but he was seeking a link-up with a manufacturer and a DTM test seems likely.

8 Tom Dillmann
Team: Carlin
Starts: 17
Wins: 0
Championship: 7th

Carlin returned to FR3.5 after a season's absence, recruiting single-seater veteran Tom Dillmann in part to assist the less experienced Sean Gelael.

Dillmann spent much of his maiden year in the category in the lower reaches of the top six, before a change of set-up philosophy at the Nurburgring in September produced a car more to his liking.

Unfortunately the wrong tyre strategy, in tough-to-call changeable weather conditions, neutered the Frenchman's efforts in Germany.

The coveted win so nearly materialised at the Jerez finale. Dillmann took pole and led the early laps. However, a cut rear tyre, the legacy of contact with eventual winner Rowland's front wing, sabotaged his chances.

9 Gustav Malja

Team: Strakka Racing
Starts: 17
Wins: 0
Championship: 9th

Gustav Malja should be satisfied with the clear progression he displayed during his maiden season in FR3.5. The former ADAC Formel Masters runner-up arrived at the Aragon season opener with modest results in the more competitive FR2.0 Eurocup.

A failure in Saturday qualifying at the Hungaroring set the stage for a gutsy comeback from last. He earned further plaudits 24 hours later when he made a superb start from sixth and picked up his first podium. It was a fine drive, albeit 20s behind the season's standouts Rowland and Vaxiviere.

He never quite made that final step to achieve really frontrunning pace, and only once did he appear in contention for victory. In the weather-induced chaos at the Nurburgring, Malja fleetingly took the lead on the penultimate lap, only to lose out to Strakka team-mate Ellinas by just 2.5s.

10 Pietro Fantin
Team: Draco Racing
Starts: 13
Wins: 0
Championship: 10th

Third-year FR3.5 racer Pietro Fantin departed the championship abruptly two races before the end of the season without a win to his credit. But a sequence of strong performances during the middle of the season justifies his inclusion in our top 10.

The turnaround came after a desultory weekend at Spa, where Fantin narrowly escaped serious injury in a Friday practice crash at Blanchimont when a wishbone freakishly penetrated the cockpit.

At the Red Bull Ring he produced a virtuoso charge from 10th to fourth, earned a podium at Silverstone by solidly holding off Dean Stoneman, and in the following round at the Nurburgring Fantin was a leading contender for victory.

An early safety car ended his chances, and those problems were compounded by a pitstop mistake, leading to the despondent Fantin parting company with Draco.

What happened to Roberto Merhi?

F1 driver Roberto Merhi's ambitious plans to contest a parallel season in FR3.5 failed to work out as planned, and the Spaniard had a truncated season at Pons.

After being driven into by Roy Nissany at Aragon, Merhi spent much of the weekend complaining of handling issues. Pons later hired engineer Humphrey Corbett, reuniting with Merhi after their successful relationship at Zeta Corse last year.

Little improvement was made at Spa and Merhi quit the team after Friday practice in Hungary. Pons made a heroic effort to keep the Manor F1 driver onboard, completing a total rebuild overnight and installing an ex-Fortec engine and gearbox. Merhi was persuaded back, escaped penalty for missing the drivers' briefing, and rewarded the team with its first podium since 2011.

Events in Austria, however, were to lead to the end of the relationship. The weekend started well with two good qualifying positions, indeed a front-row start for race two. But Mehri lost fifth on the road in race one owing to a track-limits penalty. Worse was to come.

In a major error of judgement, Merhi slowed suddenly after taking the chequered flag and was violently rammed by the following Latifi. He was excluded from the meeting, and subsequently decided to concentrate on his F1 commitments.