5. Daniel Ricciardo - 7.55/10
Off the back of his breakthrough year in 2014, Ricciardo admits he psyched himself up for a title challenge this season and was left sorely disappointed by Red Bull’s lack of competitiveness. He still got the maximum out of the car from the word go as he finished in the points for the first six races, but a strangely poor weekend in Canada - where he had suffered a similar problem in 2013 for Toro Rosso - seemed to knock his confidence for a spell.
Ricciardo bounced back in Hungary where he finished third after contact with Rosberg having been chasing an unlikely victory, and he was running strongly in Belgium before a loss of power ended his race. According to Christian Horner, Singapore saw Ricciardo and Vettel in a league of their own as he finished second to the Ferrari, and in the wet in Austin the Australian again showed he will always threaten for race wins given a competitive enough car.
