Image Credit: Clive Mason via Getty Images

The final race in Abu Dhabi provided the best summary of the 2015 season as a whole. Mercedes dominates the front row, leads from start to finish, with the only mystery being who will take third place. More times that not it was Ferrari that would take the final podium spot though Vettel did manage three wins this season, the only non-Mercedes wins of the season. That’s the story...one team wins so many races that the only other major team narrative is that the next best team's three wins are a dramatic improvement from their 2014 season.

Mercedes would finish 1st and 2nd again, setting the record for most 1-2 finishes in a single season, and in the process capturing a record 86% of championship points available. Despite some pretty consistent Hamiltonian dominance, The last three races saw Rosberg at the top of the podium, his first career three-in-a-row. Initially, it was supposed that Hamilton, after securing the championship in Texas, was relaxing his loud pedal foot to allow Rosberg to move forward, but in hindsight it doesn't appear that Hamilton let up at all as his radio messages revealed a constant stream of inquiry into how he could get back to the lead. Maybe it was the lack of pressure on Rosberg after the title was decided that propelled him to be the quickest Merc. Perhaps it was Rosberg’s complaints after events in Texas that propelled the German team to rally round the German driver in both spirit and car upgrades? It could have been better if both drivers didn't come across as pout faced malcontents when things didnt go their way. Contrast their attitude with that of Vettel after Abu Dhabi qualifying. Ferrari called him back to the pits too early and blew his chances of getting in the top 5 causing him to start 15th. His response was that of disappointment but he didn't dwell on it or make excuses.

Regardless of which Mercedes driver won, the team as a whole has displayed unbelievable dominance. For those of us who are long time F1 fans, it was hard to believe that anyone could come close to the Ferrari dominance of the 2000s, or even the accomplishment of Red Bull in this last decade. Their successes often cast doubt on the viability of the future of the sport as most races were decided the moment the lights turned green allowing for a two-hour parade lap. This is not so different from previous eras of single team dominance but this time the sport faces some uncertain challenges. The sport has become massively expensive (Ferrari and Mercedes are spending $300-500 million each) to get to the top of the podium and smaller budget teams are starting to question whether its worth it to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to finish in the bottom half of the grid when they can go to World Endurance Championship and spend less money and not have to deal with the Bernie dictatorship.

But on the touchy-feeley side of things, there were some great drives and displays of talent throughout the season. Probably more than usual. Sebastian Vettel had some Alonsoian charges, proving that a great driver can make a "just good" car even better. Vettel came from 16th to 4th in the last race of the season almost making it look easy. Both Williams drivers overcame a lot of uncharacteristically terrible pit stop mishaps. Force India's Perez and Hulkenberg always seemed to lurk in the top 10 ready to pounce on the mistake of a front runner.

This season had its bright spots. While it could have more exciting, we hope that everyone from FiA to the teams will exercise some patience and not start tinkering with the rules for the sake of competition which will only create confounding elements for all the teams that we'll have to gripe about next year.

FINAL STANDINGS: Here's how the drivers finish 2015. Did anyone deserve better? #F1 #65YearsOfF1 pic.twitter.com/qt1zZxE3j1
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2015