Formula One
High
The biggest task for a defending champion is to better their past performance or at least, repeat it. In lewis Hamilton's case, he came narrowly close to bettering his 2014 title winning achievement when the 2015 season drew to a close. Where in 2014, Hamilton won 11 races out of 19; in 2015 he won 10 races but had more podium finishes to edge teammate Nico Rosberg.
The Mercedes dominated yet again and Hamilton was once again at the forefront of it. With his third title, Hamilton kept Rosberg — the nearest rival — at arm's length and won the championship with three races to spare.
The only blip in his season came in Singapore but he wrapped up the season and ended chances of a grandstand finish by winning at Suzuka, Sochi and finally in Texas.
Alonso with a miserable year
low
For someone who has won two championships with Renault and three runners up finishes with Ferrari, the drop to 17th in the race can easily be considered as a failure of huge proportions. To make it even more brutal, Fernando Alonso is considered as one of the most talented drivers and someone who can drive very well even with an inferior car as he showed with Renault.
But this year, upon his return to Mclaren, nothing went as per plan for the Spaniard. In a season riddled with one technical flaw after another, Alonso had seven retirements of 18 races he participated in.
Although one can't put the blame entirely on the Asturian. The Honda engine had been abysmal and the power units were called "a GP2 engine" by the Spaniard himself. With only 11 points in the season and only two races finished in points, Alonso most definitely didn't quit Ferrari for this — however much he may say to the contrary.