Having assessed the drivers towards the lower end of the field, here we reflect on those who made it onto our top 10 list of the 2014 campaign.
10 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 13th, 22 points
Red Bull/Getty Images
Vergne was in a no-win situation heading into 2014. He’d missed out on a Red Bull seat – and therefore senior management did not (and were unlikely ever to) see him as good enough for the top squad. And alongside him was a rookie. If he beat Kvyat, he would have met expectations. If he didn’t beat Kvyat, his career would be toast. As it happened he did beat Kvyat – and comfortably so -but that wasn’t enough. If there was one weakness it was his qualifying pace, with the pair fairly evenly matched and Kvyat pulling off the eye-catching performance in Russia. But in race trim Vergne was comfortably the better of the Toro Rosso drivers, despite being plagued by misfortune (he retired from five of the opening eight races). He nonetheless kept his head down and put in some battling performances, none more so than in Singapore, where he surged through the pack on fresh tyres to take a fine sixth place; his late move on Räikkönen into Turn 1 was one of the finest overtakes of the campaign. In jettisoning Vergne Toro Rosso has retained its plan of hiring the best young drivers and that’s commendable. But the sport has lost a very talented racer who provided some races with spark, particularly in the latter half of the year. At least with Ferrari he has a chance, however slim, of a return.
9 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 7th, 134 points
Williams Martini Racing
Massa was rejuvenated after his move from Ferrari and equipped with a rapid Williams he proved that he remains a talented racing driver. His pole position in Austria was his first in six years – and the only non-Mercedes one of 2014 – but in the races during the opening half of the year he had a torrid time. He was hit by Kobayashi in Australia, lost a minute in the pits in China, was given a horrid strategy in Spain, was taken out of Monaco qualifying by Ericsson, suffered a huge last-lap shunt with Pérez in Canada and had a slow start in Britain, which inadvertently left him helpless to avoid Räikkönen in Britain. Consequently, he lost a huge heap of points. Only in Germany, when he collided with Magnussen at the start, could you contribute the majority of the blame to the Brazilian. He scored 40 points before the summer break and 96 after it as he came on strongly and gave Valtteri Bottas a run for his money. His pace remains very good and if Williams can retain their current position in 2015 then he’d be a favourite to take a win.
8 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India | 9th, 96 points
Sahara Force India
Such was the hype over Hülkenberg that when Force India started to wane, the German’s form was seen as disappointing. In fact, Hülkenberg’s 2014 was another impressive show of his talent, even if his prospects of nabbing a top seat appear slimmer with every passing campaign. He finished the opening 10 races in the points – usually in fifth or sixth – and racked up the points for the team. The main criticism was that it was not him, but Pérez, who managed to score Force India’s sole podium of the year. He did suffer a temporary dip mid-season – especially in Hungary where he hit his team-mate – but during the final few races he returned to form, with his drive to sixth in Abu Dhabi particularly impressive. But with the leading teams seemingly locked down for 2015 – and perhaps even 2016 – you have to wonder whether Hülkenberg’s dalliance with the World Endurance Championship in 2015 could be the precursor to a full-time move.
7 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 8th, 126 points
McLaren-Mercedes
The McLaren MP4-29 was by far from the fastest car in 2014 and yet Button still managed to finish fourth on five occasions (one of which later became a third place) and took eighth place in the Championship. Button was expected to beat Magnussen – and rightly so – but as the season wore on the gap between them seemed to increase, rather than decrease, which defied conventional wisdom. As ever, Button was there when conditions were tricky – such as in Britain qualifying and the race in Japan – and as the season progressed he was regularly comfortably in the top 10. He came agonisingly close to a maiden Silverstone podium and dragged the car much higher than it deserved to be. Only early season problems – when the nascent car was awful for a couple of rounds – and a few dodgy strategic calls (especially in Hungary) cost him a shot at a higher Championship placing. After a troublesome 2013 campaign, this was a classy year, albeit one shadowed by sadness after the untimely death of his father, John, in January.
6 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 5th, 167 points
Red Bull/Getty Images
This was not necessarily a terrible season for the reigning World Champion, but in a competitive field minor errors were highlighted and were often the difference between hero and zero. As good as Daniel Ricciardo was in the first part of the campaign, Vettel’s efforts were often overlooked. He was beset by misfortune in Australia, Monaco and Austria, could have won in Canada but for an inferior strategy and put up a fine recovery drive from 15th to fourth place in Spain. Missing whole sessions in Belgium and Singapore didn’t aid him, but a solid drive to second in the latter event showed his class. He did make some unforced errors – most notably in Hungary – while the RB10 did not allow him to exploit his unique ability to rotate the rear of the car on turn-in. Vettel was second best to Ricciardo across the duration of the season, but often the German’s detractors – who view him as a kid who got lucky between 2010 and 2013 – took pleasure in his downfall and accentuated his issues.
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 4th, 186 points
Williams Martini Racing
Bottas eschewed second season syndrome and thrived as Williams surged towards the front of the grid. The Finn may not have won a race but on occasion he came close and for a large chunk of the year he was the driver to threaten the supremacy of the Mercedes drivers. Early season niggles cost him and Williams points, with Bottas hitting the wall in Australia – from which he recovered – and minor problems in Malaysia and China restricting the squad’s progress. It took until Austria for the team to kick into gear and once they did, Bottas led them forwards, with third at the Red Bull Ring followed by a supreme drive through the field in Britain to second and the same result in Germany, achieved by repelling the rapid Hamilton. Further podiums followed in Belgium, Russia and Abu Dhabi but while this was a sensational year for the youngster, there were a few errors – especially under pressure in qualifying in Austria and Russia when pole position was within reach. But these are minor points for a driver who, astonishingly, has yet to rack up a half century of starts.
4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 2nd, 317 points
Mercedes AMG Petronas
Placing Rosberg fourth in a season in which he fought until the last race for the title may appear slightly harsh, but that’s because the top group of drivers all enjoyed a strong campaign. For Rosberg, he undoubtedly showed his credentials on occasion in 2014, especially in qualifying, where he claimed 11 pole positions and was unflustered under pressure. But the races were a different matter. Psychologically, he should have held the advantage, for his retirements came at more favourable times – between Australia and Singapore, he only once didn’t lead the championship – and thus his position was more assured. The bare statistics show that he won five races to Hamilton’s 11, this in spite of the Briton starting two races from the back of the pack. Only twice could you argue that Rosberg easily held the upper hand over Hamilton (Austria, Brazil) and he threw away wins with mistakes. He should have won in Bahrain due to his favourable strategy, indecisiveness in Hungary was costly, errors in Italy, Russia and the United States cost him the lead, while his wet weather ability in Japan was also questionable. He was, perhaps, fortunate that when he went wide in Austria he discovered a tarmac run-off rather than a gravel trap. Then there remains the debatable Monaco qualifying error and his clumsy – but not deliberately malicious – attempt on passing Hamilton in Belgium. Rosberg remains a competitor who can bounce back from being beaten and in 2014 his reputation grew, even if a couple of moments painted him as a Machiavellian figure. The reality is that Rosberg was frequently second-best in races and made errors that his team-mate did not, but his relentless nature – he finished second on 10 occasions – meant he was a worthy title challenger. His reaction in defeat was admirable – the question now is whether he can step up a notch in 2015 and turn his one-lap advantage into further victories.
3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 6th, 161 points
Scuderia Ferrari
The British Grand Prix in mid-summer was perhaps symptomatic of Alonso’s tenure at the team. Despite qualifying near the back of the grid, Alonso dragged the Ferrari by the scruff of its neck and raced it as hard as he could against faster opposition. He held back Vettel for as long as possible – if not longer than he should have done – and eventually placed sixth. After the race, he said that had he started from pole or last place, he still would have finished sixth. This was a shocking season for Ferrari yet Alonso carried the torch throughout the season, taking two opportunistic podiums. The first in China when the unusual nature of the circuit aided the F14T and later in Hungary, when the mixed weather conditions enabled the Spaniard to pounce, coming an agonising two laps from victory. Only when the car failed, in Italy and Japan, did Alonso fail to score a point and only in a few races did Räikkönen properly hold a consistent challenge to his team-mate. Frequently Alonso took lap times from the F14T that simply defied belief, especially during the race in Austria, when he suddenly came alive after a tough weekend. Management changes aided Alonso’s exit from the team but while he occasionally dug himself into a hole off-track over the course of his time with the squad, few could doubt his commitment to Ferrari on-track.
2 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 3rd, 238 points
Red Bull/Getty Images
Ricciardo arrived at Red Bull having shown flashes of speed during an improved 2013 campaign with Toro Rosso. Expectations of Ricciardo were low so many anticipated him to take half a year to get up to speed. It didn’t take quite that long. In fact, from the first qualifying session of the season he was on it. And he didn’t stop being on it. Whenever the Mercedes pair faltered it was Ricciardo who picked up the pieces to claim three thrilling victories – two achieved as the predator hunting the prey, his most recent leading from the front after the Mercedes’ early collision. Indeed, Ricciardo’s performance in Belgium was important as he proved he could control a Grand Prix. Moreover, it was the Australian’s race craft which made many sit up and take notice. He regularly put in some fabulous overtakes on rivals – despite the theoretical disadvantage of a Renault engine – and his dummy against team-mate Vettel in Italy was outstanding. What’s more, he conducted himself in a manner which is endearing to even the paddock’s biggest sceptics and his demeanour earned him a legion of new fans. The big test now is to continue at this level in 2015.
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1st, 384 points
Mercedes AMG Petronas
Few in Abu Dhabi believed that Hamilton was not the worthy champion. In 2014 he claimed 11 of the 19 race victories and a further five podium finishes; only on three occasions did he fail to finish a race and on all three occasions he was blameless. The timings of his problems also meant he was often playing catch-up and therefore had to maintain the mental strength to fight back from adversity. Would the Lewis Hamilton of 2008 have been able to cope? It’s a testament to his maturity that he not only still has bucket loads of speed, but that he knows when best to apply it and how to conduct himself off-track as well. There was, however, a period during the summer when everything appeared to go wrong for Hamilton. There was the brake failure in Canada and a sequence of errors in qualifying – in Austria and Britain, though he recovered to claim a memorable home win. Further problems in Germany and Hungary left him at the back but on both occasions he fought through to claim a podium. Collision with Rosberg in Belgium again put him on the back foot but he turned up in Italy and from there he took six wins in seven races, laying the path for a charge to the title. Granted, he had the best car, but Rosberg was a mightily formidable title rival. Hamilton didn’t falter when it mattered.
