The Unofficial Alt+F1 Beginner's Guide to Formula 1! — 2014 Driver Lineup
By aurahack 3 Comments
There are a lot of shakeups within the teams this year, so I’ll go over what I can to shed some light on why X driver being on Y team is significant, if there is such a case.
Listed in the pictures is the team’s name, their engine supplier, and their driver lineup for this year.
Top Pack
These teams occupy the top spots in the grid. They consistently make it into the last round of qualifying and, barring any mechanical failures or accidents, typically finish in the top 10.
Dominators of last year’s season, Red Bull return with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Notably absent is Mark Webber, who departed from Formula 1 after last year’s season after seven years at Red Bull. While Mark clearly had very mixed feelings towards the team, he left content of his stay in the sport and hopeful of Ricciardo, of whom he championed as a fellow Australian.
Mark Webber’s departure from F1 raised numerous questions as to who would fill in his seat in 2014. There were many rumblings of driver changes towards the latter half of 2013 and Ricciardo was but one of many names thrown around for Webber’s prized seat at Red Bull. Eventually, the team settled with Ricciardo, who has proved himself a great driver at the Toro Rosso team.
The pick comes to little surprise to most fans, since Vettel had also come from the Toro Rosso team. There is criticism towards the choice, as the other potential drivers who could fill in Webber’s seat were seen as more competitive than Ricciardo would be, particularly versus Vettel himself. 2014 will be the proving ground to see if Ricciardo can truly stand out on his own, or if he’ll fall into the role of Vettel and Red Bull’s assistant driver during races.
Hamilton returns to Mercedes this year after an incredibly successful season in 2013, his debut at Mercedes. Moving from McLaren to Mercedes was seen as an incredibly poor move by many, especially given Mercedes’ less-than-stellar 2012 performance.
In classic “joke’s on you!” fashion, Mercedes blew expectations out the water with a stunning performance in 2013 thanks to Lewis’ and Nico’s exceptional driving skills. However, team politics grew tense towards the end of the year resulting in Ross Brawn, the team principal, (guy what orchestrates the whole team) retiring from F1 completely. With a new principal on their hands, we’ll see if 2014 can continue Mercedes’ success from last year.
Two silver cars, both with Mercedes in their names. Confused yet? Just you wait until the next team, where both drivers are called Mercedes.
… I kid.
After an absolutely dreadful year in 2013, McLaren is returning to 2014 with another conundrum on their hands: They will be changing engine suppliers from Mercedes to Honda in 2015. This season will see if they’re continuing to hold off on development in waiting for their new Honda partnership, or if they’ll have spent the extra dime to improve upon last year’s performance. Of course, that choice poses far less of an issue than last year, where they were switching engine and chassis types altogether. An engine’s an engine, after all.
Button remains in McLaren, loyal to the team that brought him many victories and pole positions. 2013’s difficult season posed clear issues with Button, sounding nothing short of defeated every time he was asked about his performance.
After a short and ineffective year at McLaren, Perez is gone from McLaren and replaced by Kevin Magnussen, a rookie driver who’s proven himself outside out the sport enough for McLaren to recruit him. With a rookie driver and last year’s problematic season as a starting point, McLaren is more-than-hoping to return to its former glory this year.
Alonso isn’t really that smug. I just saw that picture and had to use it because it’s too funny.
Ferrari is one of the oldest teams in the sport and with it comes great expectations from its enormous and rabid fanbase. Their average performance in 2013 confused many, with Ferrari ultimately admitting that its car was not up to par with what it wanted.
However, despite the car's issues, many were surprised by how competitive Alonso continued to be on the grid. Fans commonly regard his 2013 performance as being far and away the best, given that he accomplished so much with so little.
Massa, who had an inconsistent pace last season, has been replaced by Kimi Raikkonen, who left Lotus last year amidst payment woes and general displeasure towards the team. Kimi drove for Ferrari from 2007-2009, where he won a Driver’s Championship, only to leave for Rally racing until 2012. Now back in his most infamous Formula 1 seat, he will no doubt prove difficult competition for Alonso during the 2014 season. Both drivers have remarkable skill but have always raced with a lone-wolf mentality, which is bound to make for some exciting racing from the two this year.
With its financial issues from 2013 supposedly resolved, Lotus returns with a half-changed roster and a hope to deliver on its promise from the last two years. 2012 saw Lotus rise as the dark horse of the sport, posing a serious threat to the top-tier teams, despite the rookie mistakes of its now-star driver Romain Grosjean.
Responsible for many mistakes during the 2012 season, one of which earned him a one-race ban, Grosjean returned in 2013 with a solid performance—one that admittedly lacked the audacity of his best races in 2012. 2014 now sees him in the top spot at Lotus, though his new teammate will prove no more cooperative than his former, Kimi Raikkonen.
Pastor Maldonado, after several tense arguments with Williams during 2013, finds a seat at Lotus which comes with criticisms from many. With Raikkonen’s seat up for grabs, many saw the incredibly talented Hulkenberg as the sure-fit entry. Maldonado, however, carries with him an incredibly wealthy sponsorship deal from Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA. With Lotus in a severe financial crisis last year due to lost funding from its investors, it saw no choice but to hire Maldonado.
Arguably one of the most disliked drivers in the sport’s recent history, Maldonado’s skill rests in contrast of his apathy towards safety. Responsible for several collisions in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Maldonado now sits in the driver’s seat at Lotus with hopes of a better performance than he was capable at Williams.
Of course, it came as a great laugh to many that Maldonado, one of the most reckless drivers to join the sport in years, would join Grosjean’s team, who himself is responsible for the largest crash in the last few years.
Mid-Pack
These teams usually occupy the 10-20 positions in a race. Though competitive, they lack the resources (and top-tier engines) to compete with the top pack.
After a promising 2012 season and an average 2013 season, Force India returns this year with seemingly few changes besides new engines. Almost frightening to see a stable team in the pit lane.
2014 sees the return of Nico Hulkenberg, who left the team for Sauber in the 2013 season, unable to find a seat anywhere else. One of the grid’s most promising drivers, he sits in Force India’s seat this year hoping to catch one of the higher teams’ attention once again.
Perez found himself, much like Hulkenberg, searching for a seat after losing his spot at McLaren in 2013. Though skilled, Perez has much to prove at Force India this year. In the era of pay drivers, it’s not often you see a driver dropped from a top-tier team in favor of a complete rookie.
One of 2012’s surprise teams, Sauber missed the boat in 2013 and didn’t live up to the promise they showed previously. Guttierez remains in 2014 and hopefully as skilled as ever.
Sutil moves to Sauber from Force India this year in hopes of a better drive. Last year saw his return to the sport after a brief departure with terrific results… which tapered off as the year grew longer. Hopefully this year will bring more stable results for him, as he’s certainly proved capable—much like Sauber itself.
Williams, after financial woes and rather poor performance last year, returns with a shiny new livery, a shiny new sponsor, and a shiny new driver.
Valtteri Bottas remains this year despite an average performance last year, though Williams’ rather dismal car last year did not help much in that regard. A proven driver during testing and outside of the sport, 2014 should fare better for him if Williams can also keep up with their car.
Massa now finds a seat at Williams after losing his in Ferrari, a move he seems relatively content with. He had clearly lost his pace at Ferrari and despite showing some exceptional racing last year, he ultimately couldn’t fight Raikkonen returning and settled at Williams instead. With a new outlook on the sport and a team excited to have him, 2014 ought to prove a good season for the skilled Brazilian driver.
Williams has long fought to stay relevant in the sport but severe financial issues have left them in the dust, a tragic fall for one of the sport’s most recognisable and renowned names. It is the hopes of many that the new engines this year will bring the team back to its former glory… or at least close to it.
The formerly Ferrari-supplied, now Renault-powered, test team for Red Bull Racing returns this year with a new rookie on board. Ricciardo, Jean-Eric’s former teammate, has since moved on to the team’s grown-up brother and Russian GP3 winner Daniil Kyvat will instead take his place.
Despite having skilled drivers, Toro Rosso had a rough pace last season, sometimes struggling to make it past the first round of qualifying. Like with many other teams, the new engines bring hope of a possible revival in their performance at the hands of Vergne and Kyvat.
Back-markers
These are the low-tier teams, who's lack of resources and higher-end engines don't allow them to perform on a competitive level with the rest of the grid. They generally do not make it past the first round of Qualifying and will finish the race in last place.
Though the two other "groups" of teams typically aren't referred to as "top-tier" and "mid-tier", back-markers are often called as such due to being the first drivers to be lapped (the lead driver caught up and overtook them to be a full lap ahead of them) in a race.
Caterham returns this year with an entirely new driver lineup, opting to hire GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson and former F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi. 2014 hopes to see them return to form, finishing below Marussia last year in end-of-year standings to take last place. Kobayashi, a fan-favorite in the sport, returns after a year in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Marussia returns this year with Ferrari as a new engine supplier since their former supplier, Cosworth, decided to not produce new engines with 2014 regulations. The team retains its drivers from last year, Chilton and Bianchi, who both performed well enough to surpass Caterham in the standings at the end of the 2013 season.
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