The top 10 LMP1 drivers of 2015

Porsche's #17 trio clinched the 2015 World Endurance Championship drivers' title in dramatic fashion after an intense battle with Audi over the course of the season.

It marked a clean sweep of titles for the German marque in an incredible second season back at the top level of endurance racing, one in which the 919 Hybrid proved to be an ominous LMP1 benchmark.

The WEC is arguably the toughest championship in the world to grade individual driver performances, though fortunately for us GARY WATKINS is always up to the task - with interesting and informative results.

1 NEEL JANI
Porsche (#18)
Wins: 1
Championship: 3rd, 138.5 points

There's strong evidence that Jani was the quickest Porsche driver both over one lap and a stint, at least when the whole season is taken into account.

If any evidence of the former was required, it was the decision of the Porsche hierarchy to leave him on the bench when it came to qualifying at the final three races.

There's a point for pole in the WEC, and the drivers of the sister car needed every one they could get in pursuit of the title.

And you don't have to look too far back to find some great race performances: he was superlative at both Shanghai and Sakhir.

2 ANDRE LOTTERER
Audi (#7)
Wins: 2
Championship: 2nd, 161 points

Things happened when Lotterer climbed aboard the lead Audi in 2015, no matter what the circumstances.

He made it past the leading Porsche at Silverstone when team-mate Marcel Fassler couldn't, and he seemed to carry Audi's championship hopes alone at the Bahrain finale - he drove only a few laps less than the combined total of his team-mates.

The never-say-die attitude that underpins his driving was always there to see.

His charge at Le Mans was impressive and yielded yet another fastest lap, his third in a row at the 24 Hours.

3 NICK TANDY
Porsche (#19)
Wins: 1 (Le Mans 24 Hours)
Championship: 8th, 70.5 points

Does Tandy qualify for this list when he was 'only' a part-timer in the P1 category?

There's a strong argument that he shouldn't be considered on the grounds that a true judgement can't be made on the basis of just two races.

But so special was his drive at Le Mans that he cannot be left out. Great racing drivers turn motor races, and that's what Tandy did over the course of the quadruple stint that began just after midnight.

That stint put the winning Porsche out of reach of both Audi and the second-placed sister car. Enough said.

4 SEBASTIEN BUEMI
Toyota (#1)
Best result: 3rd
Championship: 5th, 79 points

Judging Buemi or any of the Toyota drivers is difficult given the TS040's lack of competitiveness.

What we can say is that the combination of the Swiss and team-mates Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima was the most equally-matched P1 line-up on the grid.

They were separated in the averages at Le Mans by little more than a couple of tenths.

Buemi was the quickest of the trio and made few if any mistakes, which is why he gets such an elevated position in this ranking even though he has but one podium to his name in the 2015 WEC.

5 TIMO BERNHARD
Porsche (#17)
Wins: 4
Championship: 1st, 166 points

The stand-out driver in the championship-winning Porsche over the eight rounds of the WEC impressed again at Le Mans, though his team-mates were probably his equal by the close of the season.

A stint near Sunday lunchtime as he strove to make up ground to the leader would be talked about in the same breath as Tandy's night-time quadruple if Bernhard and his team-mates had won.

What shouldn't be underestimated was his role in elevating the performances of Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley over the course of 2015.

Bernhard was a true team leader and central to their championship success.

6 BRENDON HARTLEY
Porsche (#17)
Wins: 4
Championship: 1st, 166 points

If this list was compiled on the basis of performances over the second half of the season, Hartley would be higher than sixth. Much higher.

The Kiwi continued to improve as a driver through the season and posted some impressive drives over the final five races. His double stint with a car that was far from in perfect shape (and hard to drive because of the throttle problem) in Bahrain was amazing.

Perhaps most importantly, however, he eradicated the mistakes that had previously been part of his game and were still there at Spa and Le Mans.

7 LUCAS DI GRASSI
Audi (#8)
Best result: 3rd
Championship: 4th, 99 points

The Brazilian impressed again in his second full season in the WEC with Audi, and almost certainly drove better than in his previous campaign.

He was impressive at Le Mans, which probably counts as his drive of the year (at least at the wheel of an R18 e-tron quattro).

Team-mate Lotterer ended up with fastest race lap, but di Grassi was quicker on the averages than his illustrious team-mate. He also starred for Audi at the Nurburgring and was impressive in Bahrain too.

There should be more to come from him in the future as he strives to break his WEC victory duck.

8 NICO HULKENBERG
Porsche (#19)
Wins: 1 (Le Mans 24 Hours)
Championship: 9th, 58 points

The same arguments apply to Hulkenberg as they do to Tandy. He deserves his place here for the pace he showed at Le Mans.

He was the fastest man on the track for much of his first quadruple before handing over to Tandy, and again during a double on Sunday morning.

It was all the more impressive given that this was his first experience of the Circuit de la Sarthe.

What can't be ignored is the clash that put Roald Goethe's Aston Martin into the barriers. It was unnecessary and on another occasion might have cost the winning Porsche the victory.

9 MARK WEBBER
Porsche (#17)
Wins: 4
Championship: 1st, 166 points

Webber took another step forward as a sportscar driver at the start of 2015 and continued his improvement over the five-race championship run-in starting at the Nurburgring.

He came alive on the arrival of the high-downforce version of the latest 919 in Germany. By his own admission, he'd struggled to adapt to its understeering predecessors, cars that were anathema to what he knew from his previous racing exploits.

He can't be rated higher, however, because he wasn't on the pace of his team-mates - either in his car or the winning Porsche - at Le Mans.

10 LOIC DUVAL
Audi (#8)
Best result: 3rd
Championship: 4th, 99 points

Duval both reaffirmed and left niggling doubts that he is the same driver as before the monster shunt in practice that ruled him out of Le Mans in 2014. And that's not a contradiction.

Just as he had done in the second half of '14, the Frenchman proved there was no hangover from the accident. Except, that is, when he returned to the 24 Hours. Duval wasn't on the pace of his team-mates.

Perhaps that was understandable, but this mental barrier is one that will have to be cleared if he is to be rated again as one of the world's top sportscar drivers.