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Post by Panda on Feb 12, 2014 1:16:30 GMT 1
So who's replacing Gary Anderson or is the Beeb not interested in being technical any more? McNish maybe? It is Allan McNish. Could've been worse, I suppose.
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Post by Panda on Mar 11, 2014 14:01:09 GMT 1
So the season starts in Australia this weekend with what could be an amazing and unpredictable race (so it goes without saying BBC can't be arsed showing it).
Any thoughts on what might happen in Melbourne and over the course of the year as a whole?
Based on testing, Mercedes could be the team to beat but I'm leaning towards Rosberg, rather than Hamilton for the championship. Both can be amazingly quick but both have downsides. Hamilton's is to get caught up in trouble when he doesn't need to. Rosberg's is his Webber-like tendency to sometimes completely disappear during a race. But if the Merc does turn out to be the best car on the grid, it's hard to imagine they both won't be fighting for the title.
Ferrari should be there or thereabouts again and it'll be very interesting to see how close Alonso and Raikkonen are to each other.
Perhaps the biggest question of the weekend is how close to the front will Red Bull be and if they're off the pace, how long will it take them to catch up?
Other questions to consider: Who will emerge from the chasing pack? Will this be the year Williams turn their fortunes around? What the hell is going on with McLaren? How much will Lotus regress? Can Marussia or Caterham score a point?
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Post by Shireblogger on Mar 11, 2014 14:15:21 GMT 1
It does seem to be more open this season than it has seemed for a while. Some more questions to contemplate...
Will Daniel Ricciardo be performing better or worse than Webber, in comparison to Vettel, by the end of the season ? Is Kevin Magnussen any good ? How will Romain Grosjean respond to being team leader at Lotus ? What does Nico Hulkenberg have to do, to earn a drive with a top team ? Why is Adrian Sutil still in F1 ?
I'm pleased to see Kobayashi back. I'm looking forward to seeing Massa show he is the right driver for Williams at this stage in their fortunes. And I'm really hoping that McLaren are going to get their stuff together.
Can't wait.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 13, 2014 0:38:57 GMT 1
Red Bull (AUT) First season: 2005 Constructors’ Championships: 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Drivers’ Championships: 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Races Started: 165 Race Wins: 47 1-2 Finishes: 16 Podiums: 104 Pole Positions: 57 Fastest Laps: 41 Points: 2460.5 Laps Led: 2995 Engines: Cosworth (2005), Ferrari (2006), Renault (2007-date) Most Races Started: Mark Webber (129) Most Wins: Sebastian Vettel (38)
Having purchased Jaguar in 2004 (the team having been known as Stewart from 1997-99 and Jaguar since 2000), Red Bull made their debut in 2005 (ousting some Jaguar figures and installing Christian Horner as the youngest ever head of an F1 team), and scored 11 points in the first 2 races (more than Jaguar managed in the whole of 2004), partly thanks to David Coulthard finishing 4th in the team’s first race, ultimately finishing 7th overall. 2006 was less good (despite Ferrari power), with the team managing fewer than half their 2005 total (still good enough for 7th overall). They did however manage a podium courtesy of David Coulthard at Monaco. In 2007 they recruited Adrian Newey, however it was another tough season – at least one retirement in each of the first 7 races. They improved later on in the season (managing 3rd and 5th at the Nurburgring) to finish 5th overall. In 2008 the team switched development to 2009, and as a result were overpowered by Toro Rosso, and they only finished 7th overall. The highlight was Coulthard’s podium in Canada. In 2009 they became front-runners, scoring their first pole position and victory in China and adding a further 5 victories to finish runners-up, unable to overcome the points cushion obtained by Brawn’s early season dominance despite having the fastest car from early-summer onwards. In 2010, the Red Bull was normally the fastest car, however due to reliability, poor wet-weather pace, driver errors and intra-team rivalry, they only moved ahead in the standings mid-season. Despite their refusal to employ team orders, they managed to win both titles, winning 9 races in the process. In 2011 they were virtually untouchable, scoring 18 poles and 12 wins from 19 races, wrapping up both titles with 3 races to spare, despite McLaren and Ferrari getting closer to them as the season progressed. They were not as dominant in 2012, mainly due to a ban on exhaust-blown diffusers – however, several controversial upgrades plus a late charge from Sebastian Vettel (taking 4 consecutive wins in Asia) allowed the team to retain both titles, with 7 wins. In 2013 they were dominant once again –although the tyre degradation in the first half of the season often prevented them from showing their true performance, after the tyres were changed midway through the season, they were completely dominant, with Vettel winning the final 9 races (along with 4 in the first half of the season), and both championships being clinched in India.
1 – Sebastian Vettel (GER) First season: 2007 Teams: BMW Sauber (2007), Toro Rosso (2007-08), Red Bull (2009-date) Races: 120 Pole Positions: 45 Wins: 39 Podiums: 62 Points: 1451 Fastest Laps: 22 World Championships: 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Laps Led: 2437 Races Led: 65 Doubles: 27 Hat-Tricks: 8 (Britain 2009, Europe 2011, India 2011, Bahrain 2012, Japan 2012, Singapore 2013, Korea 2013, USA 2013) Grand Chelems: 4 (India 2011, Japan 2012, Singapore 2013, Korea 2013)
A champion in German Formula BMW (2004) and a runner-up in Formula 3 Euroseries (2006), Sebastian Vettel joined BMW Sauber as a test driver in 2006 (becoming the youngest driver to participate in a Grand Prix weekend and receiving a fine for pit-lane speeding before setting the fastest time in Friday practice), and made his debut for the team in 2007 at Indianapolis, standing in for the injured Robert Kubica. He qualified 7th and became the sport’s youngest points scorer by finishing 8th. He secured a full-time race seat with Toro Rosso for the last 7 races of 2007 (replacing Scott Speed), and managed a 4th place finish in China (in the previous race in Japan he briefly led and was running 3rd when he crashed into Mark Webber). He finished 14th overall (6 pts). 2008 got off to a slow start – he failed to finish any of the first 4 races (crashing out of 3 of them on the first lap), however the second half of the season saw a massive improvement thanks to technical upgrades, with 2008 yielding a total of 10 top 10 starts and 9 points scoring finishes, including pole position and victory at a wet Monza (making him the sport’s youngest winner). He finished 8th overall with 35 points, and was rewarded with a switch to the Red Bull team (who finished lower in the standings than Toro Rosso in 2008) for 2009 (replacing the retiring David Coulthard), making him the only driver to be changing teams for 2009. In 2009 he failed to score in the first 2 races (crashing whilst running in 2nd in Australia), but bounced back to score 8 podiums (including wins in China, Britain, Japan and Abu Dhabi) and 3 fastest laps to finish 2nd overall (84 pts) – however, he had several missed opportunities and a couple of reliability issues. He outscored everybody from Britain onwards. In 2010 he was supremely fast – 10 pole positions (never qualifying lower than 6th and only twice qualifying outside the top 3) – however, a combination of reliability (dropping back from the lead in Bahrain and retiring from the lead in Australia and Korea), driver errors (such as a collision with Jenson Button in Belgium), and intra-team rivalry with Mark Webber (including a collision in Turkey) led to a struggle for the championship, which he did win with his victory in Abu Dhabi (having also won in Malaysia, Europe, Japan and Brazil), even though he was only 3rd in the standings going into that race (and had not led the championship previously). He became the youngest world champion (the 3rd driver to break that record since 2005). He managed 10 podiums, 3 fastest laps, and scored 256 points. In 2011 he was in a class of his own – a record 15 pole positions (only once did he not qualify on the front row), 17 podiums, 11 wins (Australia, Malaysia, Turkey, Spain, Monaco, Europe, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, India), and 3 fastest laps, allowing him to clinch the title with 4 races to spare (392 pts). It could have been more had he not suffered reliability failures in the final 2 races. A ban on exhaust-blown diffusers meant that 2012 started more slowly, with Vettel not managing either pole position or victory until round 4 in Bahrain (where he managed the double), although he did manage 2nd in Australia. Despite pole positions in Canada and Europe (where an alternator failure cost him a likely win), he did not win again until a run of 4 consecutive wins (Singapore, Japan, Korea, India), leading every lap of the last 3 of these (however Singapore was inherited after Hamilton retired). These plus another 5 podiums (including 2nd in Belgium from 11th on the grid, and 3rd in Abu Dhabi after starting from the pitlane) and 6 fastest laps helped him retain the title by just 3 points (281 pts), despite damaging his car on the first lap in Brazil (he finished 6th). He managed a total of 6 pole positions. 2013 was an easy 4th consecutive title – he managed 9 pole positions (only once did he start outside the top 3), 16 podiums, and 13 wins including every race after the mid-season break (Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, USA, Brazil), and 7 fastest laps, clinching the title with 3 races to spare (397 points). This was not without controversy – he ignored team orders in Malaysia to pass Mark Webber for the win. He did have competition in the early part of the season from Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Nico Rosberg (the latter two managing most of the pole positions in the early part of the season), but was leading the standings even before the tyre compounds were changed.
3 – Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) First season: 2011 Teams: HRT (2011), Toro Rosso (2012-2013), Red Bull (2014-date) Races: 50 Best Qualifying: 5th Best Finish: 7th (x2) Points: 30 Best Championship Position: 14th (2013)
A champion in British F3 (2009), Daniel Ricciardo drove for Red Bull in the post-season tests in 2009 and 2010, and participated in several Friday practice sessions for Toro Rosso in 2011, before joining HRT (replacing Narain Karthikeyan) mid-season. He competed in the final 11 races, where he fared well against team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi, with a best qualifying of 20th and 2 18th place finishes, to finish 27th overall. He was promoted to a Toro Rosso race seat for 2012. He managed to finish 9th in the first race in Australia, but despite only 1 DNF all season he did not score again until Belgium, which was the first of 5 points-scoring finishes in 7 races (3 9th and 2 10ths), although he could easily have finished higher in Korea were it not for technical issues, finishing 18th overall (10 pts). In 2013 he continued to improve, reaching Q3 regularly (his best being 5th in Canada), and managing regular points-scoring finishes – his best being 2 7th-place finishes – to finish 14th overall (20 pts). He was promoted to Red Bull for 2014, replacing the retiring Mark Webber.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 13, 2014 0:43:30 GMT 1
Mercedes (GER) First season: 1954 (did not compete 1956-2009) Drivers’ Championships: 2 (1954-55) Best Constructors’ Championship Finish: 4th (2010, 2011) Races Started: 89 Race Wins: 13 1-2 Finishes: 5 Podiums: 32 Pole Positions: 17 Fastest Laps: 13 Points: 881 Laps Led: 843 Engines: Mercedes (1954-55, 2010-date) Most Races Started: Nico Rosberg (77) Most Wins: Juan Manuel Fangio (8)
Mercedes first took part in the F1 world championship in 1954 (taking part in 6 of that year’s 9 races). They won 4 of their first 5 races (including a 1-2 on their debut). Juan Manuel Fangio (who had transferred from Maserati partway through the season) won the Drivers’ Championship. They continued this form into 1955, winning 5 of the first 7 races that year (including monopolising the top 4 in Britain), and Fangio winning another title for the team. However, the team withdrew from all motor racing competition that year after the Le Mans disaster. The Mercedes name returned to F1 in 1993 as an engine supplier to Sauber. They won championships with McLaren in 1998, 1999 and 2008, and with Brawn GP in 2009, before taking over the latter team (who had been known as Tyrrell from 1970 to 1998, BAR from 1999 to 2005, and Honda from 2006 to 2008) for 2010. However, they failed to maintain the team’s front-running form, despite Michael Schumacher making a comeback (in fact he was outgunned by Nico Rosberg). They finished 4th overall, equalling this position in 2011 (where they were still some distance off Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari). In 2012, thanks to their double-DRS system, Nico Rosberg gave the team pole position and victory in China, however the team struggled after that and only finished 5th overall. The 2013 car was quick over a single lap (the team managing 8 poles in 9 races) in the early part of the season, but struggled for pace during the races, with the team managing only 3 wins (Monaco, Britain, Hungary). They dropped back somewhat from Red Bull later on in the season, but still held on to 2nd place overall.
6 – Nico Rosberg (GER) First season: 2006 Teams: Williams (2006-2009), Mercedes (2010-date) Races: 147 Pole Positions: 4 Wins: 3 Podiums: 11 Points: 570.5 Fastest Laps: 4 Best Championship Position: 6th (2013) Races Led: 13 Laps Led: 212 Doubles: 2
Having been champion in German Formula BMW (2002) and GP2 (2005), Nico Rosberg signed as a test driver for Williams in 2005 before making his race debut for the team in 2006. He started off well – fastest lap on his debut, and 3rd on the grid in his second race, but a combination of accidents and poor reliability meant that he finished 17th overall with just 4 points. 2007 was a better season – 10 top 10 grid slots (including 4th at Hungary), and 7 points finishes (including 4th place in Brazil), to finish 9th overall (20 pts). He was approached by McLaren for 2008 but decided to stay with Williams. 2008 got off to a good start, with a podium in Australia, and got even better later on with a safety-car-assisted 2nd place in Singapore – however, an underperforming car and a few driver errors meant that his only other points finishes were 3 8th places, leaving him 13th overall (17 pts). 2009 was his best season overall to date – he only qualified outside the top 10 on 2 occasions, and managed a string of points-scoring finishes (4th places in Germany and Hungary being his best) and a fastest lap to finish 7th overall (34.5 points). His best qualifying came at Singapore, where he qualified 3rd and was on course for a podium until receiving a drive-through penalty. He moved to Mercedes in 2010, and despite the car’s difficulties, managed a front-row start in Malaysia, and 3rd-place finishes in Malaysia, China (where he led for a while) and Britain. He dominated team-mate Michael Schumacher, finishing 7th overall (142 pts), almost twice as many as Schumacher, despite a couple of wheel failures and being taken out by Mark Webber when running promisingly in Korea. In 2011 he again dominated Schumacher in qualifying (only starting behind him on 3 occasions), only once qualifying outside the top 10 (and that was due to a mechanical issue). His best qualifying was 3rd in Turkey, where he finished 5th (his season-best), equalling the previous race in China (where he could have won but for a fuel calculation issue). He showed an affinity for the number 7 – he qualified 7th on 9 occasions, finished 7th on 5 occasions, and finished 7th in the championship for the 3rd year in a row (scoring 89 pts). In 2012 he finally scored his first pole position in China, and then went on to score his first win. He also started and finished 2nd in Monaco, however Mercedes’ performance dropped somewhat after that (he did however manage 2 fastest laps), with Rosberg finishing 9th overall (93 pts). 2013 was his best season to date – despite 2 DNFs from the first 3 races and a podium chance missed due to team orders in Malaysia, he managed 3 consecutive poles, converting the final one (Monaco) to a win. He scored a somewhat fortunate win in Britain, but only managed 2 other podiums. He did still score points consistently, finishing 6th overall (171 pts).
44 – Lewis Hamilton (GBR) First Season: 2007 Teams: McLaren (2007-2012), Mercedes (2013-date) Races: 129 Pole Positions: 31 Wins: 22 Podiums: 54 Points: 1102 Fastest Laps: 13 World Championships: 1 (2008) Races Led: 53 Laps Led: 1342 Doubles: 12 Hat-Tricks: 2 (Japan 2007, China 2008)
Having been champion in British Formula Renault (2003), F3 Euroseries (2005) and GP2 (2006), Lewis Hamilton earned himself a McLaren race drive for 2007. He started the season in style, finishing on the podium in each of the first 9 races. Overall he managed 6 pole positions, 4 victories (Canada, USA, Hungary, Japan), a further 8 podiums, and 2 fastest laps, outperforming team-mate Fernando Alonso. He led the championship after 4 races, regained it after his first victory in Canada, and held it until the final race, where he lost out by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen due to errors in the final 2 races (109 pts). He made amends by winning the championship in 2008 by a single point (98 pts), with 7 pole positions, 5 victories (Australia, Monaco, Great Britain, Germany, China), another 5 podiums, and 1 fastest lap (despite being as low as 4th in the championship after 2 consecutive non-scoring races). He became the youngest ever world champion (securing the title by passing Timo Glock on the last lap of the season), and only the second driver to clinch the title in only their second season in F1 (discounting 1950-51). He only had 1 retirement in each of his first 2 seasons (both occurring in the pitlane), but did finish outside the points on 3 further occasions in 2008 due to errors. He committed to McLaren until the end of 2012. 2009 started badly – he was disqualified in Australia for misleading the stewards, and managed just 9 points from the first 9 races. However, the McLaren’s car development came good in the second half of the season, and he managed 4 pole positions and 5 podiums, including wins in Hungary and Singapore, to finish 5th overall (49 pts). In the early part of 2010, he put in some good drives that were marred by dubious strategy calls – however back-to-back wins in Turkey and Canada (the latter being his only pole position of the season) brought him into title contention. However, towards the end of the season the McLaren was increasingly outpaced by Red Bull and Ferrari (he also had 3 DNFs in 4 races), and he dropped to 4th overall (240 pts), despite scoring another win in Belgium. As well as his 3 wins, he managed a further 6 podiums and 5 fastest laps. 2011 was a scrappy season – whilst he did manage 3 wins (China, Germany, Abu Dhabi) and the only non-Red Bull pole in Korea, he struggled with the Pirelli tyres and became involved in numerous incidents (several involving Felipe Massa). As a result, he only finished on the podium on 3 further occasions (he also managed 3 fastest laps), finishing behind his team-mate for the first time in 5th place (227 pts). In 2012 he started off consistently – finishing the first 3 races in 3rd place (despite starting the first 2 on pole), leading the championship at this point, before scoring his first 2012 win in Canada (he was harmed by several pit-stop blunders in the early races). However, his results were inconsistent after that – he managed further wins in Hungary, Italy, and USA (despite 5 further pole positions – he was also stripped of a pole position earlier in the season in Spain), but also failed to finish on 6 occasions due to various collisions and mechanical failures, which cost him any chance of the title. Curiously, all 4 of his wins were immediately followed by DNFs (including in Brazil, where he managed his only fastest lap of the season). He finished 4th overall (190 pts). He announced that he would join Mercedes for 2013, where his only real difficulty was adapting to the car’s braking system. He managed 5 pole positions (including 4 in a row in the middle part of the season), but only the 1 victory in Hungary (although he was leading in Britain when his tyre failed), 4 other podiums, and 1 fastest lap. Only failing to score twice, he finished 4th overall (189 pts), 2 places higher than team-mate Rosberg.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 13, 2014 0:48:44 GMT 1
Ferrari (ITA) First season: 1950 Constructors’ Championships: 16 (1961, 1964, 1975-77, 1979, 1982-83, 1999-2004, 2007-2008) Drivers’ Championships: 15 (1952-53, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000-04, 2007) Races Started: 870 Race Wins: 221 1-2 Finishes: 81 Podiums: 678 Pole Positions: 207 Fastest Laps: 229 Points: 5618.5 Laps Led: 13641 Engines: Ferrari (1950-date), Jaguar (1950) Most Races Started: Michael Schumacher (180) Most Wins: Michael Schumacher (72)
Ferrari made their debut in the 1950 Monaco GP, scored their first victory in 1951, and won Drivers’ Championships with Alberto Ascari (1952-53), Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956), Mike Hawthorn (1958), Phil Hill (1961), John Surtees (1964), Niki Lauda (1975, 1977) and Jody Scheckter (1979). After this, they won the Constructors’ Championship during the turbo era in 1982 and 1983, but then entered a slump (Alain Prost did however come close to the title in 1990). Signing Jean Todt in 1993 followed by Michael Schumacher in 1996 and Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne in 1997 proved a masterstroke - they won the Constructors’ Championship in 1999 (but Eddie Irvine fell short of the Drivers’ Championship), and in 2000 they entered a period of total domination, winning both titles 3 years in a row. 2003 was a tougher season, but they still managed to hold on to both titles, which they also retained in 2004 (only losing 3 races that year – 13 races were won by Michael Schumacher). However, in 2005 they struggled due to the regulations requiring one set of tyres to last a whole race. They did however manage several podium finishes, including a 1-2 in the 6-car US GP to finish 3rd overall. In 2006 they were initially dominated by Renault, but staged a second-half fightback (with Michael Schumacher scoring 7 victories) to move ahead of Renault with 3 rounds to go – however, reliability issues saw them beaten to the title by 5 points. In 2007 they managed to beat McLaren to both titles, with Kimi Raikkonen’s late surge in form bringing him the Drivers’ Championship, and the FIA effectively handing them the Constructors’ Championship. They retained the latter in 2008, but Felipe Massa just missed out on the Drivers’ Championship by a single point (despite 1 more victory than Lewis Hamilton). In 2009 they were never in title contention – they failed to score in the first 3 races, and Felipe Massa had a life-threatening accident at Hungary (with his replacements failing to score points). They stopped development on the 2009 car early in order to focus on 2010. Despite this, they still managed victory in Belgium. With Fernando Alonso now in the team, 2010 started well with a 1-2 in Bahrain, but the team fell behind Red Bull and McLaren before catching up mid-season. Despite using team orders, they just missed out on both titles (even though Alonso was favourite going into the final race). In 2011 they struggled with the Pirelli tyres and as a result trailed Red Bull and McLaren. However, Alonso consistently scored podiums (including a victory), keeping him in the title hunt until Singapore, unlike Massa who failed to reach the podium. In 2012 the car was significantly off the pace in the early races, however it did improve, allowing Alonso to lead the Championship for much of the season before being pipped by Vettel. They finished 2nd overall, thanks in part to Massa finishing the season well. 2013 got off to a better start, with Alonso winning in China and Spain (despite being off the pace somewhat in qualifying), but they slipped behind Red Bull and Mercedes after the mid-season tyre change.
7 – Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) First season: 2001 (did not race 2010-11) Teams: Sauber (2001), McLaren (2002-06), Ferrari (2007-2009, 2014-date), Lotus (2012-2013) Races: 194 (193 starts) Pole Positions: 16 Wins: 20 Podiums: 77 Points: 969 Fastest Laps: 39 World Championships: 1 (2007) Races Led: 62 Laps Led: 1156 Doubles: 6 Hat-Tricks: 2 (Australia 2007, Spain 2008)
A champion in Formula Renault UK Winter Series (1999) and Formula Renault UK (2000), Kimi Raikkonen made his F1 race debut for Sauber in 2001 (having tested with the team in 2000). Despite only being given a special dispensation regarding a super licence, he qualified in the top 10 on 10 occasions, and scored 9 points (including a 6th place on his debut and 2 4th places) to finish 10th overall. He joined McLaren in 2002 (replacing Mika Hakkinen), where he started each of the first 10 races from the 3rd row of the grid (he did however manage a front-row start later in the season), and managed 1 2nd place, 3 3rd places, 2 4th places, and only one other finish. He did also manage 1 fastest lap, and finished 6th overall (24 pts). His first win came in early 2003 in Malaysia (from 7th on the grid), a year in which he managed 9 further podium finishes (none of which were victories, although he was initially incorrectly declared the winner in Brazil) as well as 2 pole positions (one of which was in Europe, where he led until his engine failed) and 3 fastest laps to finish just 2 points behind Michael Schumacher (91 pts), despite leading the championship for most of the early part of the season. In 2004 his championship hopes were ended early on due to reliability problems – just 1 point from the first 7 races, but recovered in the latter part of the season with a pole position in Great Britain, and 4 podium finishes (including a win at Belgium from 10th on the grid) to finish 7th overall (45 pts), managing 2 fastest laps along the way. In 2005 he managed 5 pole positions, 7 victories (Spain, Monaco, Canada, Hungary, Turkey, Belgium and Japan), a further 5 podiums, and 10 fastest laps – however due to reliability issues (he failed to score on 5 occasions and on 3 occasions started outside the top 10 due to engine changes), he only managed 2nd overall (112 pts). His greatest victory was in Japan, when he started 17th on the grid and passed Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap. In 2006 the McLaren was unable to match the performance of Renault and Ferrari, but despite not winning a race, he managed 3 pole positions, 6 podiums (including 3rd from 22nd on the grid in the opening race), and 3 fastest laps to finish 5th overall (65 pts). He moved to Ferrari in 2007, where despite only 3 pole positions (albeit only twice starting from outside the front 2 rows of the grid) he managed 6 victories (Australia, France, Great Britain, Belgium, China, Brazil), a further 6 podiums, and 6 fastest laps. Despite only being 4th in the championship in the early part of the season and only lying in 3rd going into the last race, he managed to win the championship (thanks to Hamilton suffering a strategic error and a gearbox issue in the last 2 races, plus Massa moving over for him). 2008 got off to a good start, with 2 victories in the first 4 races (giving him an early championship lead), however his championship-winning form eventually deserted him (he also had some bad luck, such as Hamilton crashing into him in Canada), and he did not win another race (he did however manage a total of 9 podiums in 2008), eventually playing a supporting role to Felipe Massa. He managed 2 pole positions, and a record-equalling 10 fastest laps (5 of which came in races where he did not score), finishing 3rd overall (75 pts). 2009 was a difficult season – in the first 9 races he only scored 10 points (including 3rd place in Monaco, where he started 2nd). However, after team-mate Felipe Massa suffered his huge accident in Hungary, Raikkonen’s form changed, with him finishing the next 4 races on the podium (including a win in Belgium), before Ferrari halted development on the car. He finished 6th overall (48 pts). Raikkonen was bought out of his deal and drove in the World Rally Championship in 2010, and made appearances in rallying and NASCAR in 2011 (making little impression). He returned to F1 in 2012 for Lotus (formerly Renault), where he was remarkably consistent – only once qualifying lower than 12th (17th in the first race), completing all bar 1 lap (the final lap in Brazil), only failing to score once (14th in China due to poor strategy). He managed 6 podiums in the 9 races following China (including 2nd in Bahrain, where he came close to passing Vettel for the lead having started 11th), but his only victory of the season did not come until Abu Dhabi (this was his only podium after Belgium, and was helped by Hamilton retiring in front of him). He also managed 2 fastest laps. This was however his first season since 2001 without a front-row start (his best being 3rd in Hungary). He finished 3rd overall (207 pts). 2013 started off well – he won the first race of the season in Australia (from 7th on the grid) and managed 3 consecutive 2nd-place finishes in China, Bahrain, and Spain, making him a genuine title contender. However, he was inconsistent after that, with 4 further podiums but also several races where he was struggling to reach the points (or not scoring at all). He managed 2 fastest laps. After being generally outperformed by his team-mate Grosjean in the later races as well as revealing that he hadn’t been paid all season, his season ended on a low, crashing out at the first corner in Abu Dhabi (having been excluded from qualifying), then missing the last 2 races due to a back injury, finishing 4th overall (183 pts). He had already signed for a return to Ferrari for 2014.
14 – Fernando Alonso (ESP) First season: 2001 (did not race in 2002) Teams: Minardi (2001), Renault (2003-06), McLaren (2007), Renault (2008-2009), Ferrari (2010-date) Races: 217 (215 starts) Pole Positions: 22 Wins: 32 Podiums: 95 Points: 1606 Fastest Laps: 21 World Championships: 2 (2005, 2006) Races Led: 82 Laps Led: 1735 Doubles: 14 Hat-Tricks: 5 (Great Britain 2006, Monaco 2007, Italy 2007, Italy 2010, Singapore 2010) Grand Chelems: 1 (Singapore 2010)
A champion in Euro-Open Movistar (1999), Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut for Minardi in 2001 (replacing Marc Gene), where he shone in an uncompetitive car, easily beating his team-mate Tarso Marques, occasionally outqualifying faster cars (his best qualifying was 17th), and finishing 11th on merit in Japan (his best finish however was 10th in the attritional German GP). He finished 23rd overall (0 pts). He tested for Renault in 2002 before racing for the team in 2003 (replacing Jenson Button), where he was quickly hailed as the next Michael Schumacher. He became the youngest ever pole-sitter in Malaysia and managed another pole position as well as becoming the youngest ever race winner in Hungary (lapping Michael Schumacher in the process). This along with 3 other podiums (and 1 fastest lap) helped him to 6th overall (55 pts). 2004 was a strong season (if ultimately disappointing) in which he dominated team-mate Jarno Trulli (despite the latter managing a victory at Monaco where Alonso crashed). He managed pole position and 2nd place at France, along with 3 other podiums to finish 4th overall (59 pts). Despite not having the fastest car in 2005 (especially in the later races), he had better reliability and forced Kimi Raikkonen into a couple of key errors, managing 6 pole positions, 7 victories (Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, Europe, France, Germany, China), a further 8 podiums, and 2 fastest laps, to become the sport’s youngest champion with 2 races to spare (133 pts), leading the championship from the second race onwards. He was helped by the regulations prohibiting tyre changes, which Ferrari struggled with. In 2006 he dominated the early part of the season – 5 pole positions, 6 wins (Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Monaco, Great Britain, Canada) and 3 2nd places from the first 9 races, before fighting off a strong challenge from Michael Schumacher (who was helped by a couple of controversial FIA rulings) in the second half of the season (including one more pole position and 5 further podiums including a victory in Japan after Schumacher retired from the lead) to retain his title with 134 points (only losing the lead once). He managed 5 fastest laps in 2006. He moved to McLaren for 2007 where he managed 2 pole positions, 4 wins (Malaysia, Monaco, Europe, Italy), a further 8 podiums, and 3 fastest laps to finish 3rd overall on 109 points (level with team-mate Lewis Hamilton and just 1 point behind Kimi Raikkonen). Only twice did he start a race from outside the top 4, and only once did he fail to score in 2007. However, he fell out with the team and returned to Renault for 2008, where he helped to transform the team’s lacklustre car into a race winner – despite only scoring 13 points in the first 10 races (in spite of a front-row start in Spain), he scored 2 wins (a Singapore win assisted by Nelson Piquet Jr’s controversial crash followed by a win on merit in Japan) and a 2nd place in the final 4 races to finish 5th overall (61 pts). In 2009, his less-than-competitive Renault meant that he struggled to break clear of the midfield. He did manage a surprise pole in Hungary, and managed a podium finish in Singapore (plus 2 fastest laps) to finish 9th overall (26 pts). He moved to Ferrari in 2010, and won on his debut for the team in Bahrain. He struggled somewhat in the next few races (due to reliability problems and errors), finding himself 47 points off the championship lead. However, he declared that he would win the title, and did indeed turn his fortunes around with wins in Germany (assisted by team orders), Italy, Singapore, and Korea (Italy and Singapore were his only pole positions of the season) – in fact, in the 8 races from Germany to Brazil, he finished 7 of them on the podium (the exception being Belgium where he crashed). Leading the championship going into the final race, a poor pit strategy cost him the title. He had a total of 10 podiums and 5 fastest laps, and failed to score on 3 occasions, finishing 2nd overall (252 pts). He was consistent in 2011 – always qualifying in the top 6, and scoring points in all bar one race (Canada, which was his only front-row start of the season). He scored 10 podiums including a win (and fastest lap) in Britain (thanks to a temporary restriction on exhaust-blown diffusers), finishing 4th overall (257 pts). Ferrari’s 2012 car was off the pace initially – however, Alonso did take victory in only the 2nd race in Malaysia (from 8th on the grid), and followed it up with wins in Europe (from 11th on the grid) and Germany (from pole) and 3 other podiums (including Britain where he started on pole and led most of the race before finishing 2nd) to lead the championship at the mid-season break (having scored in every race). In the second half of the season, he suffered 2 first-lap collisions but finished every other race (7 in total) in either 2nd or 3rd. He was still a championship contender going into the final race, and finished ahead of Vettel in that race, but just missed out by 3 points (278 pts). The early part of 2013 was inconsistent – in the first 7 races he alternated between top 2 finishes (including wins in China and Spain) and failing to finish inside the top 6. However, despite tensions between him and his team, he did continue to score consistently, finishing on the podium a further 5 times (including 3 consecutive 2nd-place finishes), and managing 2 fastest laps, to finish a distant 2nd to Vettel (242 pts), despite not managing a front-row start all season.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:09:13 GMT 1
Note: I am using the ‘same name = same team’ convention in grouping the current Lotus team with the previous teams known by this name.
Lotus (GBR)
First season: 1958 (did not compete 1995-2009) Constructors’ Championships: 7 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1978) Drivers’ Championships: 6 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1978) Races Started: 568 Race Wins: 81 1-2 Finishes: 8 Podiums: 196 Pole Positions: 107 Fastest Laps: 76 Points: 1986 Laps Led: 5623 Engines: Climax (1958-67), Maserati (1961), BRM (1962-67), Ford (1963), Ford Cosworth (1967-83, 1992-93), Pratt & Whitney (1971), Renault (1983-86, 2011-date), Honda (1987-88), Judd (1989, 1991), Lamborghini (1990), Mugen Honda (1994), Cosworth (2010), Most Races Started: Elio de Angelis (90) Most Wins: Jim Clark (25)
Established by Colin Chapman, Lotus made their F1 debut in the 1958 Monaco GP, and scored their first victory in 1960 (this was a privately-entered Lotus – Team Lotus did not score their first win until 1961). The team were renowned for their technological ‘leaps’ – however, they were also prone to producing unreliable cars. Their ground-breaking cars allowed them to win Drivers’ Championships courtesy of Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1968), Jochen Rindt (1970), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972), and Mario Andretti (1978). They also won the Constructors’ Championship in each of those years, plus 1973. After Chapman’s death in 1982, the team’s performance dwindled (although Ayrton Senna gave them several wins), and collapsed before the 1995 season. The Lotus name returned to F1 for 2010 with a team backed by a Malaysian consortium. Despite only having its entry confirmed 6 months prior to the start of the season, both cars were classified finishers in the first race and the team quickly became the best of 2010 newcomers, taking the all-important tenth slot in constructor standings with Heikki Kovalainen’s 12th place in Japan. They switched to Renault power in 2011, and again finished 10th overall (with 0 points), but overall had a better season, challenging the midfield runners at times. For 2012, the Lotus name transferred from this team (subsequently called Caterham) to the team formerly known as Toleman (1981-85), Benetton (1986-2001), and Renault (2002-2011, who had sold to Group Lotus – the 2 teams battled over the rights to use the Lotus name in 2011). Returning drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean gave the team 10 podiums over the course of the season, but their only win came towards the end in Abu Dhabi. They finished 4th overall. 2013 started off perfectly with a win for Raikkonen in the first race in Australia (due to the car being tyre-friendly), but this would be the only one of the season. They did however manage a further 13 podiums throughout the season, finishing 4th overall.
8 – Romain Grosjean (FRA) First season: 2009 (did not race 2010-11) Teams: Renault (2009), Lotus (2012-date) Races: 47 Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 2nd (x2) Podiums: 9 Points: 228 Fastest Laps: 1 Best Championship Position: 7th (2013) Races Led: 7 Laps Led: 40
A champion in Formula Renault 1.6 Switzerland (2003), French Formula Renault 2.0 (2005), F3 Euroseries (2007), and GP2 Asia (2008), Romain Grosjean raced in the main GP2 series in 2008 (finishing 4th overall) and 2009, cutting the latter season short in order to replace Nelson Piquet Jr at Renault. However, due to testing restrictions and the team being in disarray, he did not have much chance to shine, with a best qualifying of 12th in Italy and a best finish of 13th in Brazil, finishing 23rd overall (0 pts). He then became champion in Auto GP (2010), GP2 Asia (2011), and the main GP2 series (2011), and took part in 2 Friday practice sessions for Renault and as a result returned to the Renault team (now named Lotus) for 2012. He was fairly consistent in qualifying – only qualifying outside the top 10 3 times, and managing a front-row start in Hungary – but was notoriously inconsistent in races. In the first 12 races he managed 6 top 6 finishes, including 3rd in Bahrain, 2nd in Canada, and 3rd in Hungary, and a fastest lap, but also managed 5 DNFs (including an alternator failure whilst running 2nd in Europe), 3 of which were due to collisions (and another due to a spin). The most notable was in Belgium, which earned him a one-race ban for Italy. After his ban, he did not finish higher than 7th, and had 2 further race-ending collisions. He finished 8th overall (96 pts). 2013 was a much better season (excluding Monaco), especially in the later stages where he outpaced team-mate Raikkonen. He managed 6 podiums, including 4 in 5 races towards the end of the season (including in Japan where he led much of the race, India where he started 17th, and USA where he split the dominant Red Bulls), but a win eluded him, and he finished 7th overall (132 pts). As at the start of 2014, he is yet to finish a race in 5th place.
13 – Pastor Maldonado (VEN) First season: 2011 Teams: Williams (2011-2013), Lotus (2014-date) Races: 58 Pole Positions: 1 Wins: 1 Podiums: 1 Points: 47 Best Championship Position: 15th (2012) Laps Led: 37 Races Led: 1
A champion in Italian Formula Renault (2004), Pastor Maldonado won the GP2 series at the 4th attempt in 2010 (winning 6 consecutive feature races in the process). He then tested for HRT and Williams, and signed with the latter for 2011. With an uncompetitive car, he was a match for his vastly more experienced team-mate Barrichello, and qualified in the top 10 on 3 occasions (his best being 7th in Britain). His only point of the season came in Belgium, where he finished 10th (having been demoted to 21st on the grid after tangling with Lewis Hamilton) – however, he was looking set for 6th in Monaco before a late tangle with Hamilton. He finished 19th overall. In 2012 he crashed out of 6th place on the last lap in Australia, finished 8th in China and then scored a shock pole (albeit inherited) and win in Spain (despite Alonso jumping him at the start), but despite good qualifying performances (including top 3 starts in Europe and Singapore), he did not score another point until Japan (thanks in part to several collisions – including in Belgium where he picked up 3 penalties in 1 weekend, but his DNF in Singapore was a mechanical failure). He also managed 5th in Abu Dhabi (where he started 3rd), finishing 15th overall (45 pts), the lowest position ever for a race-winner. In 2013 the Williams was again uncompetitive, and just as in 2011 Maldonado scored 1 of the team’s 5 points (this time finishing 18th overall), this time with 10th in Hungary (thanks to several retirements). Unlike in 2011, he failed to reach Q3 (his best being 13th). He did only manage 3 DNFs (including the first 2 races). He ended his contract with the team and signed for Lotus for 2014.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:11:52 GMT 1
McLaren (GBR) First season: 1966 Constructors’ Championships: 8 (1974, 1984-85, 1988-91, 1998) Drivers’ Championships: 12 (1974, 1976, 1984-86, 1988-91, 1998-99, 2008) Races Started: 742 Race Wins: 182 1-2 Finishes: 47 Podiums: 483 Pole Positions: 155 Fastest Laps: 153 Points: 4832.5 Laps Led: 10582 Engines: Ford (1966), Serenissima (1966), BRM (1967-68), Ford Cosworth (1968-83, 1993), Alfa Romeo (1970), TAG Porsche (1983-87), Honda (1988-1992), Peugeot (1994), Mercedes (1995-date) Most Races Started: David Coulthard (150) Most Wins: Ayrton Senna (35)
Three years after Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd was founded, McLaren made their F1 debut at Monaco. They scored their first victory courtesy of Bruce McLaren in 1968 (the team finishing 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship that year), and won the Drivers’ Championship with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1974 and with James Hunt by a single point in 1976, beating Niki Lauda who would himself take the Drivers’ Championship with McLaren in 1984, winning by half a point from team-mate Alain Prost, who would then himself win the title in both 1985 and 1986, before a slightly less successful 1987. McLaren entered a period of total dominance in 1988-1991 (thanks to their Honda engines), with Ayrton Senna winning the title in 1988 (all bar one race being a McLaren win), 1990 and 1991, and Prost winning in 1989. Honda and Senna departed in the early 1990s, casting the team into the wilderness until the team’s next period of dominance in 1998-99, with Mika Hakkinen winning the Drivers’ Championship in both years and the team winning the Constructors’ Championship in 1998 (thanks to their partnership with Mercedes and the arrival of Adrian Newey). They dropped to 2nd behind Ferrari in 2000-01, and then were pushed down to 3rd by Williams in 2002-03 (Kimi Raikkonen missed out on the Drivers’ Championship in 2003 by 2 points). 2004 started terribly – only 5 points from the first 7 races – however they did stage a recovery (including 1 victory) to finish 5th overall. In 2005 the McLaren car was the quickest for most of the season, and the team took 10 victories (2 more than Renault), but poor reliability meant that they missed out on both titles. In 2006 they were a distant 3rd behind Renault and Ferrari. Despite strong pace in the latter part of the season, they failed to win a race (for the first time since 1996) – although they did manage 2nd place finishes with 3 different drivers. In 2007 they won 8 races but were ejected from the Constructors’ Championship and fined US$100 million. They also missed out on the Drivers’ Championship, with the feuding Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso finishing 1 point behind Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton made amends in 2008 by winning the Drivers’ Championship, however they were unable to regain the Constructors’ Championship, finishing 21 points behind Ferrari. 2009 started badly, with the team struggling to score points early on – however, the car became a race-winner later on, and they pipped Ferrari to 3rd place by a single point. Their 2010 car was not as quick as Red Bull's, but was more reliable and shone in damp conditions. They were helped by the much-imitated F-duct. They led the standings for first half of season, but ultimately finished 2nd overall after five race wins. In 2011 the team was a clear second behind Red Bull – whilst Red Bull were virtually untouchable in qualifying (McLaren managing the only non-Red Bull pole of the season), they were ahead on race pace for a spell, with both drivers managing 3 wins apiece. 2012 was an inconsistent season – they managed a 1-3 in the first race, but then their form dipped (Button in particular having a bad run), and had several pitstop blunders, before their pace improved in the latter part of the season. However, they were undone by several reliability failures, consigning them to 3rd overall. 2013 was a disappointing season – they designed a completely new car but it was a handful, with the team failing to score a podium all season, and their record run of consecutive points-scoring finishes ending. They finished 5th overall.
20 – Kevin Magnussen (DEN) First season: 2014
A champion in Danish Formula Ford (2008) and Formula Renault 3.5 (2013), Kevin Magnussen will make his debut with McLaren in 2014, having tested for them in 2012 and 2013.
22 – Jenson Button (GBR) First season: 2000 Teams: Williams (2000), Benetton (2001), Renault (2002), BAR (2003-05), Honda (2006-08), Brawn GP (2009), McLaren (2010-date) Races: 249 (247 starts) Pole Positions: 8 Wins: 15 Podiums: 49 Points: 1072 Fastest Laps: 8 World Championships: 1 (2009) Races Led: 41 Laps Led: 761 Doubles: 5 Hat-tricks: 1 (Malaysia 2009)
A champion in British Formula Ford (1998), Jenson Button tested for McLaren, Prost and Williams in 1999 before making his race debut for Williams in 2000, replacing Alessandro Zanardi. He scored a point in only his 2nd race (becoming the sport’s youngest ever points scorer). He managed 8 top 10 grid slots (including 3rd in Belgium), and 6 points finishes (including 4th in Germany), to finish 8th overall (12 pts). He moved to Benetton in 2001, where he had a difficult season, only qualifying in the top 10 in the last 2 races, and only managing 1 points-scoring finish (5th place in Germany) to finish 17th overall. Benetton was renamed Renault in 2002, and the season got off to a good start, with 2 4th places and one 5th place in the first 4 races (narrowly missing out on a podium in Malaysia), before fading later in the season to finish 7th overall (14 pts). He moved to BAR in 2003, where he consistently outperformed team-mate Jacques Villeneuve. He managed 7 top 10 grid slots, and 7 points finishes, including 2 4th place finishes (he also led 2 races), to finish 9th overall (17 pts). 2004 was a much better season – despite not managing a win, he only qualified outside the top 10 on 3 occasions (including pole in San Marino and 2 further front-row starts), and only failed to score in 3 races. He managed 4 2nd places and 6 3rd places to finish 3rd overall (85 pts), only behind the 2 Ferraris. A contract dispute scuppered his potential move to Williams for 2005, and thus he stayed with BAR. The season started terribly – a disqualification and a 2-race ban for the team led to Button being on 0 points after 9 races (despite pole in Canada). However, he fought back strongly in the second half of the season, scoring in all of the last 10 races, including 2 3rd places, to finish 9th overall (37 pts). He bought himself out of a Williams contract for 2006, instead signing a deal with Honda (who had bought out BAR). He started 2006 off reasonably well, with 3 front-row starts including pole in Australia, and a 3rd place finish in Malaysia. After a dip in the middle of the season, he bounced back with 7 consecutive top 5 finishes in the last 7 races of the season (outscoring every other driver in the final 6 races), including a win in Hungary and 3rd place in Brazil, to finish 6th overall (56 pts). In 2007 he struggled to stay with the midfield due to problems with the car, only managing 4 top 10 grid slots and 3 points finishes (including 5th in China) to finish 15th overall (6 pts). His only consolation was that his team-mate Rubens Barrichello failed to score at all. Honda’s form continued to dwindle in 2008, with Button managing just one top 10 grid slot and only one points finish (6th in Spain) to finish 18th overall. Honda pulled out of F1 at the end of 2008 – however, the team was saved, re-branded Brawn GP, and Button stayed with them. This decision paid off – he won 6 of the first 7 races (Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Turkey), scored 4 pole positions, and 2 fastest laps (including a hat-trick in Malaysia). As his team lost their performance advantage mid-season, Button’s challenge faded, however he kept scoring (only failing to score in 1 race) to wrap up the title with a race to spare (95 pts). In 2010 he surprised many by moving to McLaren, leading to claims that he would be blown away by Lewis Hamilton. However, he defied his critics, winning 2 of the first 4 races (Australia and China) and leading the championship. However, his results were in general hampered by qualifying struggles (his front-row start in Italy was his only top 3 start of the season) – however strong race speed and consistency yielded 5 further podiums and kept him in contention until the penultimate round (he only failed to score 3 times). He finished 5th overall with 214 points. In 2011, he benefited from F1’s change to Pirelli’s less durable tyres, allowing him to finish runner-up in the championship (270 pts). Despite not scoring a pole-position (3 2nds being his best), he did manage 3 victories (passing Vettel on the last lap to win in Canada following a penalty and 2 collisions, a win in Hungary’s mixed conditions, and a further win in Japan), a further 9 podiums, and 3 fastest laps. 2012 started perfectly, with a win in Australia (where he scored the first of 2 fastest laps in 2012), but after a 2nd place in China, he struggled for set-up and only managed 8 points from the next 6 races. However, in the final 10 races, he managed 8 top 6 finishes (and 2 DNFs), including wins in Belgium (his only pole of the season) and Brazil, and 2nd places in Germany and Singapore, to finish 6th overall (188 pts). 2013 was a difficult season due to the McLaren being off the pace, however he performed admirably, finishing in the points 14 times (with a best finish of 4th), and comfortably outscoring team-mate Perez (with whom he had a few on-track battles). He finished 9th overall (73 pts).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:13:23 GMT 1
Force India (IND) First season: 2008 Best Constructors’ Championship Position: 6th (2011, 2013) Races Started: 112 Best Finish: 2nd Pole Positions: 1 Podiums: 1 Fastest Laps: 2 Points: 336 Laps Led: 49 Engines: Ferrari (2008), Mercedes (2009-date) Most Races Started: Adrian Sutil (92) Most Podiums: Giancarlo Fisichella (1)
Force India made its debut in 2008 following Vijay Mallya’s purchase of the Spyker team (which had been known as Jordan from 1991 to 2005 and Midland in 2006). Despite a massive improvement in pace, the team failed to score a point, the best result being Giancarlo Fisichella’s 10th place in Spain. Despite a basic lack of downforce, 2009 saw massive improvement (with a switch to Mercedes engines and McLaren transmission), with Fisichella giving the team a surprise pole position and 2nd-place finish in Belgium (the team’s first points) before moving to Ferrari. Adrian Sutil came close to another pole and podium in the following race in Monza – however, the car was only strong on these low-drag tracks. In 2010 the team were more consistent – regulars in Q3 and finishing in the points often. However, they faded somewhat in the later part of the season as Williams and BMW Sauber closed the performance gap, finishing 7th overall. They failed to take a significant step forward in 2011, but improved towards the end of the season, managing 3 6th-place finishes in the latter half of the season, which helped them to 6th overall. They dropped back to 7th in 2012, despite a couple of 4th place finishes and leading in Brazil. 2013 started well with regular points finishes in the early rounds (including 4th for di Resta in Bahrain and 5th for Sutil in Monaco), but after the mid-season tyre change their form dropped somewhat, and they finished 6th overall (still their joint-best result to date).
11 – Sergio Perez (MEX) First season: 2011 Teams: Sauber (2011-12), McLaren (2013), Force India (2014) Races: 57 (56 starts) Best Qualifying: 4th Best Finish: 2nd (x2) Podiums: 3 Points: 129 Fastest Laps: 2 Best Championship Position: 10th (2012) Races Led: 3 Laps Led: 12
A champion in British F3 National (2007), Sergio Perez was runner-up in the GP2 series in 2010, despite 5 wins and 6 fastest laps. He tested for BMW Sauber, and landed a race drive for the Sauber team in 2011. His season did not get off to a good start – he was disqualified from his debut race (from 7th place having stopped only once), before suffering a heavy crash in qualifying for Monaco (having just reached Q3 for the first time). This ruled him out of that race and the following race in Canada. However, just 2 races later (in Britain), he scored his best finish of the season (7th), and picked up more points in the later half of the season (despite only once qualifying in the top 10), finishing 16th overall (14 pts). 2012 was a mixed season – he managed 3 podiums (2nd in Malaysia despite a poor pit-stop and a mistake, 3rd in Canada, 2nd in Italy), from 9th, 15th, and 12th on the grid, but only 4 other points-scoring finishes. He managed 1 fastest lap. He signed for McLaren for 2013 late in the season, but did not score another point after that, finishing 10th overall (66 pts). In 2013 his car was uncompetitive and performances were somewhat inconsistent (even though he was classified in every race just like team-mate Button), but he still managed some good performances, including 6th in Bahrain (ahead of Button who he had battled) and 5th in India, finishing 11th overall (49 pts). He managed 1 fastest lap. He moved to Force India for 2014.
27 – Nico Hulkenberg (GER) First season: 2010 (did not compete 2011) Teams: Williams (2010), Force India (2012, 2014), Sauber (2013) Races: 57 Pole Positions: 1 Best Finish: 4th (x2) Points: 136 Fastest Laps: 1 Best Championship Position: 10th (2013) Laps Led: 38 Races Led: 2
Having won Formula BMW ADAC (2005), A1 GP (German team in 2006), F3 Euroseries (2008), and GP2 (2009), Nico Hulkenberg graduated to a Williams drive for 2010, having tested for the team for the previous 2 years. He only managed 2 points from the first 11 races (despite qualifying 5th in Malaysia), but turned things around with his best finish of 6th in Hungary. The highlight of his season was his shock pole position in Brazil (he finished the race 8th). He finished 14th overall (22 pts). However, he did not keep his drive, and moved to Force India for 2011, competing in most Friday morning practice sessions, before being promoted to a race drive for 2012, where he managed several good performances, including 5th in Europe, 4th on the grid in Germany, 4th in Belgium, and 5 top 8 finishes in the final 6 races, including in Brazil, where he led 30 laps in the wet before colliding with Hamilton and dropping back to 5th. He also managed fastest lap in Singapore. He finished 11th overall (63 pts). He signed for Sauber for 2013, which originally appeared to be the wrong decision as Sauber initially struggled, but things improved in the second half of the season, with Hulkenberg qualifying 3rd in Italy and finishing 4th in Korea (ahead of Hamilton and Alonso), to finish 10th overall (51 pts).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:16:50 GMT 1
Sauber (SUI) First season: 1993 (competed as BMW Sauber from 2006-10 – these seasons are not included in the stats below) Best Constructors’ Championship Position: 4th (2001) Races Started: 273 Best Finish: 2nd (x2) Best Grid Position: 2nd (x3) Podiums: 10 Fastest Laps: 3 Points: 422 Laps Led: 25 Engines: Sauber (1993), Mercedes (1994), Ford Cosworth (1995-96), Petronas (1997-2005), Ferrari (2011-date) Most Races Started: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (64) Most Podiums: Sergio Perez (3)
Sauber joined F1 in 1993, but not with the expected Mercedes partnership. They started in style, scoring 2 points in their first race (courtesy of JJ Lehto). They scored 4 further points that year to finish 7th overall. Heinz-Harald Frentzen gave the team their first podium at Monza in 1995, and at Monaco the following year they were classified 3rd and 4th (only 3 cars crossed the finish line), and this helped them to 7th in that year’s Constructors Championship. Heinz-Harald Frentzen then moved to Williams for 1997. In that season the team secured the Ferrari-supplied Petronas engines, and Johnny Herbert gave the team another podium when he finished 3rd in the Hungarian GP. In 2000, both cars withdrew from the Brazilian GP after spectacular rear-wing failures. The team’s best finishes that year were 2 5th places, and they finished that season with only 6 points (8th place overall). 2001 was a turnaround – their best season to date, finishing 4th overall, and they managed 5th overall in 2002 (including 4th and 5th places in Spain that year) with 11 points. 2003 was a difficult season – they scored in only 5 races. Their best result was in the US GP, where they became one of 3 teams to lead a race for the first time (the others being BAR and Jaguar), and Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld finished 3rd and 5th. The team rewarded both drivers by sacking the pair of them, and finished 6th overall. They matched this in a very consistent 2004 (they did especially well in pre-qualifying), where they scored 12 points. Jacques Villeneuve joined them in 2005 (the team finishing 8th overall), at the end of which the team were sold to BMW. BMW withdrew in 2009 and sold the team back to Peter Sauber, however the BMW Sauber name was retained for 2010, the team reverting to the original Sauber name for 2011, where despite a double disqualification in the first race, they had a strong first half of the season, with several top 10 finishes, but faded towards the end of the season, finishing 7th overall. The 2012 car was a good all-rounder, with Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez both managing podiums, allowing the team to finish 6th overall. 2013 started badly, but after the mid-season tyre change they improved significantly, with Nico Hulkenberg getting a couple of good results and the team finishing 7th overall with 57 points (50 of which were scored in the final 8 rounds).
21 – Esteban Gutierrez (MEX) First season: 2013 Teams: Sauber (2013-date) Races: 19 Best Qualifying: 8th Best Finish: 7th Points: 6 Fastest Laps: 1 Best Championship Position: 16th (2013) Races Led: 1 Laps Led: 2
A champion in Formula BMW Europe (2008), GP3 Series (2010), and achieving 3rd in GP2 (2012), Gutierrez first tested an F1 car in 2009, and spent the next few years as a test/reserve driver for BMW Sauber (later Sauber) before being signed to a race seat for 2013. He struggled initially (including a collision with Adrian Sutil in China0, but managed 11th place and fastest lap in Spain. Continuing to improve (although the only time he outqualified team-mate Hulkenberg was when Hulkenberg had a DRS problem), he scored his first points with 7th place in Japan to finish 16th overall (6 pts).
99 – Adrian Sutil (GER) First season: 2007 (did not race in 2012) Teams: Spyker (2007), Force India (2008-2011, 2013), Sauber (2014) Races: 109 Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 4th Points: 124 Fastest Laps: 1 Best Championship Position: 9th (2011) Races Led: 1 Laps Led: 11
A champion in Swiss Formula Ford (2002) and Japanese Formula 3 (2006), Adrian Sutil tested for Midland in 2006 before making his race debut for the team (now renamed Spyker) in 2007, where he was hailed as a star of the future. Due to an uncompetitive car, he never qualified higher than 19th (although he did top a practice session), and scored 1 point in Japan (which only came after Vitantonio Liuzzi was penalised), to finish 19th overall. Spyker became Force India for 2008, but the car was still uncompetitive. He never made it past Q1 (16th his best grid slot), and never finished higher than 13th (finishing 20th overall) – however he was looking set for 4th at Monaco before Kimi Raikkonen took him out of the race. 2009 was an improvement – he finished 9th in the season opener and qualified 7th in Germany, however the highlight of his season was at Monza, where he qualified 2nd and finished 4th (his only points finish of the season), as well as scoring fastest lap. He did however get involved in several incidents throughout the season. He finished 17th overall (5 pts). In 2010 he dominated team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi for pace. He was a regular in Q3 (starting 4th in Malaysia), and was a regular points-scorer (managing 5th in Malaysia and Belgium) – however the team’s form tailed off in the latter part of the season (he only managed 2 points from the final 6 races). He finished 11th overall (47 pts). Despite often being beaten in qualifying by rookie team-mate di Resta in 2011, he comfortably outscored him, with only 2 DNFs and a good end of season run including 6th in Germany and Brazil giving him 9th overall (42 pts). However, he failed to keep his drive for 2012 (when he received a conviction for GBH), before returning in 2013. The season got off to a good start – he led in Australia before finishing 7th, then finished 5th in Monaco. The team tailed off in the latter part of the season, with Sutil finishing 13th overall (29 pts, 23 of which were scored in the first 8 races), 1 place but 19 points behind his team-mate.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:18:46 GMT 1
Toro Rosso (ITA) First season: 2006 Best Constructors’ Championship Position: 6th (2008) Races Started: 147 Race Wins: 1 Podiums: 1 Pole Positions: 1 Points: 169 Laps Led: 56 Engines: Cosworth (2006), Ferrari (2007-2013), Renault (2014-date) Most Races Started: Sébastien Buemi (55) Most Wins: Sebastian Vettel (1)
Toro Rosso were formed as Red Bull’s junior team after the latter’s purchase of Minardi (who first competed in 1985) in 2005. In 2006 they used restricted V10 power, and challenged Red Bull Racing’s cars. They only managed 1 point, courtesy of Vitantonio Liuzzi at Indianapolis. 2007 got off to a poor start – 13 retirements in the first 10 races, but improved towards the end, finishing the season with 8 points (7th overall), all coming in the Chinese GP. 2008 also got off to a faltering start – however they scored consistently in the latter part of the season to finish 6th overall (ahead of Red Bull Racing) with 39 points. The highlight was Sebastian Vettel’s pole position and victory at Monza. After ‘losing’ Vettel to Red Bull, 2009 was another slow start (although they did score 3 points in the first race due to the attrition rate). They introduced a major upgrade part-way through the season which allowed them to achieve a couple of points finishes towards the end of the season, but they still finished last overall. 2010 was their first season as a true constructor (with the customer cars loophole closed). They reached Q2 in most races, but managed few points finishes, with Sébastien Buemi’s 8th place in Canada being the best. They finished 9th overall, only ahead of the 3 ‘new’ teams. The first half of 2011 saw them score more points than in the whole of 2010, and continued to score good results throughout the season, but just missed out on 7th overall. Replacing both drivers with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for 2012, the team managed points in both the first 2 races, but did not score again until Belgium. However, they did score in 6 of the final 10 races (although never finishing higher than 8th), to finish 9th overall. 2013 was another solid-yet-unspectacular year, with both drivers managing occasional top 10 finishes. Despite Vergne scoring the team’s best result (6th), Ricciardo scored more points overall, and was promoted to Red Bull to replace the retiring Mark Webber. They finished 8th overall (33 pts).
25 – Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) First season: 2012 Teams: Toro Rosso (2012-date) Races: 39 Best Qualifying: 7th Best Finish: 6th Points: 29 Best Championship Position: 15th (2013)
A champion in British F3 (2010), Jean-Eric Vergne drove for Toro Rosso in several practice sessions towards the end of 2011 as well as in the post-season tests (topping the times on all 3 days). He was promoted to a race seat in 2012. He often dropped out in Q1, but often made up for it in the races, with 8th places in Malaysia (after staying out on intermediate tyres until the red flag), Belgium, Korea, and Brazil being his only points of the season, finishing 17th overall (16 pts). In 2013 he had a couple of good performances (8th in Monaco and a career-best 6th in Canada), but was outscored by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was promoted to the Red Bull team for 2014. He finished 15th overall (13 pts).
26 – Daniil Kvyat (RUS) First season: 2014
A champion in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (2012) and GP3 (2013), Daniil Kvyat made two FP1 appearances for Toro Rosso in 2013 and was given a race seat at the team for 2014.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:19:40 GMT 1
Williams (GBR) First season: 1975 (did not start a race in 1977) Drivers’ Championships: 7 (1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997) Constructors’ Championships: 9 (1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997) Races Started: 623 Race Wins: 114 1-2 Finishes: 33 Podiums: 297 Pole Positions: 127 Fastest Laps: 131 Laps Led: 7530 Engines: Ford Cosworth (1975-83), Honda (1983-87), Judd (1988), Renault (1989-97, 2012-2013), Mecachrome (1998), Supertec (1999), BMW (2000-05), Cosworth (2006, 2010-2011), Toyota (2007-09), Mercedes (2014-date) Points: 2755 Most Races Started: Nigel Mansell (95) Most Wins: Nigel Mansell (28)
The Williams team endured several years of uncompetitiveness before Frank Williams joined forces with Patrick Head in 1977. The team scored their first victory in 1979 (managing 5 wins that year), before winning both titles the following year (Alan Jones won the drivers’ title). They also won the Drivers’ Championship with Keke Rosberg in 1982. Teaming up with Honda yielded constructors’ titles in 1986 and 1987, with Nelson Piquet winning the drivers’ title in the latter year. Honda left Williams for McLaren in 1988, but Williams then teamed up with Renault and Adrian Newey, and they won further titles with Nigel Mansell (1992) and Alain Prost (1993), both of whom left the sport immediately afterwards. 1994 was marred by the death of Ayrton Senna just 3 races into his Williams career – however the team still won the Constructors’ Championship, with Damon Hill narrowly missing out on the Drivers’ Championship. He did win it in 1996, as did Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, before Renault quit the sport and Adrian Newey defected to McLaren. After 2 quiet years, they teamed up with BMW, and whilst winning races in 2001-02, they could not match Ferrari overall. 2003 was an improvement, the team winning 4 races to finish 2nd overall. In 2004 the team sported their radical ‘walrus’ front wing, but ditched it after a poor start to the season. They ended the season on a high with victory in Brazil, finishing 4th overall. In 2005, the team finished 5th overall with 66 points, with Nick Heidfeld (who missed the final 5 races of that season before moving to BMW Sauber along with BMW themselves) scoring a pole position, and the team scoring 4 podiums, including Monaco (where both drivers finished on the podium). Moving to Cosworth engines in 2006, the season started well (Nico Rosberg managing fastest lap in the season opener), but the challenge quickly faded, and the team could only manage 11 points (8th overall). In 2007 (with Toyota engines) the car was much more reliable (only 7 retirements compared to 20 in 2006). They scored 33 points, with Alex Wurz scoring a podium from 19th on the grid. 2008 started well, with Rosberg scoring a podium at the season opener, but again they quickly faded (although they did manage 2nd in Singapore), finishing 8th overall with 26 points. In 2009 they were one of 3 teams to use the ‘double-diffuser’ at the start of the season, however they failed to capitalise, with the car never having podium pace. The team moved back to Cosworth power for 2010. The early part of 2010 consisted of occasional lower-end-of-points finishes, however the team improved later on, with Rubens Barrichello finishing 4th in Valencia and Nico Hulkenberg taking pole position in Brazil (before being dropped by the team). They finished 6th overall. In 2011 they became the first F1 team to float on the stock market, before enduring the worst season in their history – they only reached Q3 on 3 occasions and scored just 5 points (only finishing ahead of the ‘new’ teams). They switched back to Renault power in 2012, and scored their first win since 2004 in Spain, courtesy of Pastor Maldonado. However, the team slipped backwards and finished 8th overall (largely thanks to inconsistent performances from the drivers). Moving back to Renault power for 2013, the team were optimistic at the start of the season, however the season was a disappointment, with the team again only managing 5 points (as in 2011, exactly 1 was scored by Maldonado), finishing 9th overall.
19 – Felipe Massa (BRA) First season: 2002 (did not race in 2003) Teams: Sauber (2002, 2004-05), Ferrari (2006-2013), Williams (2014-date) Races: 193 (191 starts) Pole Positions: 15 Wins: 11 Podiums: 36 Points: 816 Fastest Laps: 14 Best Championship Position: 2nd (2008) Races Led: 38 Laps Led: 887 Doubles: 8 Hat-Tricks: 4 (Bahrain 2007, Spain 2007, Europe 2008, Brazil 2008)
Having been champion in Formula Chevrolet Brazil (1999), Formula Renault Italy (2000), Formula Renault Eurocup (2000), and European F3000 (2001), Felipe Massa made his F1 debut for Sauber in 2002 (competing in 16 of the 17 races that year). He made quite a few mistakes, and was kept out of the cockpit for one race. He managed 4 points, his best finish being 5th, to finish 13th overall. He tested for Ferrari in 2003, before returning to his Sauber seat in 2004. This season was inconsistent – he twice qualified 4th, and scored 12 points, including 1 4th place and 1 5th place to finish 12th overall (he also briefly led in Brazil that year). He finished 13th in 2005 (11 points), outscoring team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, with a best finish of 4th. He moved to Ferrari in 2006 (replacing Rubens Barrichello) to partner Michael Schumacher, where after a shaky start he managed 3 pole positions, 2 victories (Turkey and Brazil), a further 5 podiums, and 2 fastest laps. He finished 3rd overall with 80 points. 2007 saw 6 pole positions, 3 wins (Bahrain, Spain, Turkey), a further 7 podiums, and 6 fastest laps, however due to a couple of reliability problems, a disqualification, and coming off second-best in several wheel-to-wheel racing situations, he only managed 4th place (94 pts), whereas team-mate Kimi Raikkonen won the title (after Massa let him through to win in Brazil). Despite failing to finish either of the first 2 races, in 2008 he showed new levels of speed and maturity, managing 6 pole positions, 6 victories (Bahrain, Turkey, France, Europe, Belgium, Brazil), a further 4 podiums, and 3 fastest laps, but due to a fair bit of misfortune (losing a certain win in Hungary due to engine failure and a possible win in Singapore after a pit-lane mishap) he just missed out on the title (on the final lap of the final race) by 1 point (97 pts), despite leading the championship at one point. 2009 started badly – he did not score until the 5th race. However, he managed a string of points-scoring finishes (including a podium in Germany), as well as fastest lap in Monaco, before fracturing his skull in qualifying for Hungary. This ruled him out for the rest of the season. He finished 11th overall (22 pts). He bounced back in 2010, scoring his only front-row start of the season and finishing 2nd to team-mate Fernando Alonso in the season-opener in Bahrain, beat Alonso to the podium in Australia, and was leading the championship after 3 races (having won none of them). However, after 3 consecutive failures to score, he was forced to play a supporting role to Fernando Alonso, moving aside to let him win in Germany. He did manage a couple of other 3rd place finishes, however, finishing 6th overall (144 pts). 2011 was a poor season – only once did he qualify in the top 3 (Canada), and he never finished higher than 5th (which he managed 6 times) whilst Alonso managed 10 podiums including a win. He was also involved in several collisions with Lewis Hamilton. He finished 6th overall (118 pts). 2012 was a season of 2 halves – in the first half of the season he was no match for Alonso, missing Q3 more often than not. However, he was much improved in the second half (outpacing Alonso in the last couple of races), scoring in every race and finishing 2nd in Japan and 3rd in Brazil, finishing 7th overall (122 pts). 2013 started off well – he often outqualified team-mate Alonso, and managed several good points finishes, including a podium in Spain. However, several crashes and spins in the next few races harmed his championship performance (although he did only have 2 DNFs and 2 other no-scores all season), and he left Ferrari at the end of 2013 to join Williams in 2014. He finished 8th overall (112 pts), his worst finishing position for a full season since 2005.
77 – Valtteri Bottas (FIN) First season: 2013 Teams: Williams (2013-date) Races: 19 Best Qualifying: 3rd Best Finish: 8th Points: 4 Best Championship Position: 17th (2013)
A champion in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup (2008), Formula Renault 2.0 North European Cup (2008), and GP3 (2011), as well as becoming the first driver ever to win the F3 Masters title 2 years running (2009-10), Valtteri Bottas tested for Williams between 2010 and 2012, competing in 15 FP1 sessions in 2012, and earned a race seat with the team for 2013. He comfortably outperformed team-mate Pastor Maldonado – however, due to his car’s performance, he was only occasionally able to show his talent, such as in the wet qualifying in Canada (where he qualified 3rd), and in the race in the USA (where he scored his only points with 8th). He finished 17th overall (4 pts).
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:20:40 GMT 1
Marussia (RUS) First season: 2012 Best Constructors’ Championship Position: 10th (2013) Races Started: 20 Best Finish: 12th (x2) Best Grid Position: 15th Engines: Cosworth (2012-2013), Ferrari (2014-date) Most Races Started: Charles Pic (20)
Marussia made their debut in 2012 as a re-naming of the team that competed as Virgin in 2010-2011 (having sponsored them in 2011). They were still rooted to the rear of the grid, but did move ahead of Caterham thanks to Timo Glock’s 12th place in Singapore, before Caterham snatched 10th place back at the final race in Brazil. They did however finish ahead of HRT (which Virgin failed to do in either 2010 or 2011). 2013 was their first KERS-equipped season, in which they started off ahead of Caterham, with Bianchi managing 13th in Malaysia, the result which ultimately allowed the team to finish ahead of Caterham in the championship (still with 0 points).
4 – Max Chilton (GBR) First season: 2013 Teams: Marussia (2013-date) Best Qualifying: 16th Best Finish: 14th Points: 0 Best Championship Position: 23rd (2013)
After 3 seasons in GP2 Asia and 3 seasons in GP2 (finishing 4th in 2012), Max Chilton signed to drive for Marussia for 2013 having tested for them in 2012 (he also tested for Force India in 2011). Despite several mechanical failures, he finished every race in 2013, but was beaten for pace by team-mate Bianchi, finishing 23rd overall (0 pts) with a best finish of 14th.
17 – Jules Bianchi (FRA) First season: 2013 Teams: Marussia (2013-date) Best Qualifying: 15th Best Finish: 13th Points: 0 Best Championship Position: 19th (2013)
A champion in French karting, Formula Renault 2.0 (2007), F3 Euroseries (2009), and with 2 3rd-places in GP2 (2010, 2011), Jules Bianchi tested for Ferrari in 2010-11 (appearing at the Young Driver Test in 2011), then became reserve driver for Force India in 2012. He narrowly missed out on a race seat with the team for 2013, but was signed by Marussia after Luiz Razia’s sponsorship deal fell through. In the early part of the season, he was occasionally battling faster cars, and his 13th place finish in Malaysia meant that he finished 19th in the Championship and helped Marussia finish 10th overall. He also tested for Ferrari.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 14, 2014 0:27:43 GMT 1
Caterham (MAL) First season: 2012 Best Constructors’ Championship Position: 10th (2012) Races Started: 39 Best Finish: 11th Best Grid Position: 14th Engines: Renault (2012-date) Most Races Started: Heikki Kovalainen (20)
Caterham made their debut in 2012 as a re-naming of Lotus (who had entered in 2010, the name being transferred to the former Renault team). They had hoped to close the gap to the midfield, and initially appeared to have done so, however they tailed off and only just managed to beat Marussia to 10th overall, with Vitaly Petrov finishing 11th in Brazil. Hoping for a step forward in 2013, they instead found themselves behind Marussia in the early part of the season, with the latter managing the decisive 13th place finish in Malaysia, which consigned Caterham to 11th place (0 pts) overall despite an improvement in the latter part of the season.
9 – Marcus Ericsson (SWE) First season: 2014
A champion in Formula BMW UK (2007) and Japanese Formula Three (2009), Marcus Ericsson was signed to race for Caterham in 2014 after 4 years in GP2.
10 – Kamui Kobayashi (JAP) First season: 2009 (competed in 2 races in 2009; did not race in 2013) Teams: Toyota (2009), BMW Sauber (2010), Sauber (2011-12), Caterham (2014) Best Qualifying: 2nd Best Finish: 3rd Podiums: 1 Fastest Laps: 1 Points: 125 Best Championship Position: 12th (2010, 2011, 2012)
A champion in the Italian and Eurocup Formula Renault championships (2005), and GP2 Asia (2008-09), Kamui Kobayashi was a third driver for Toyota in 2008 and 2009, and substituted for the injured Timo Glock for the final 2 races (Brazil and Abu Dhabi) in the latter year. He made an impression in Abu Dhabi, passing Jenson Button en route to 6th place. He finished 18th overall (3 pts). Toyota withdrew at the end of 2009, and Kobayashi joined BMW Sauber for 2010. He retired from 6 of the first 8 races (due to a combination of reliability issues and crashes), but as the car improved, so did the results, with a best of 6th in Britain, and also 7th places in Europe and Japan (both of which involved several impressive overtakes). This was despite never qualifying higher than 9th all season. He finished 12th overall (32 pts). His aggressive streak continued in 2011, where he scored in 7 of the first 11 races (which would have been 8 if not for a disqualification due to a minor technical infringement in the opening race), before he tailed off and team-mate Perez got the upper hand. He again finished 12th overall (30 pts). In 2012 he suffered some misfortune, but he did manage a couple of good results – 4th in Germany and 3rd in Japan, as well as a fastest lap in China, finishing in 12th place (60 pts), 6 points behind team-mate Perez (who managed 3 podiums). He was dropped by Sauber for 2013, during which he raced sports cars with Ferrari, before returning to F1 with Caterham for 2014.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 14, 2014 19:32:44 GMT 1
I've looking forward to the new season. I'd love to see Lewis Hamilton gain a 2nd World Title, but Rosberg wil give him a real run for his money. With McLaren & Williams being up in the mix with Ferrari (although I suspect Alonso will dominate the Ice-Man more than most people seem to think at the moment). But I fear Red Bull & Vettel will be closer to the title battle than most punters have been giving them credit for after their near disastrous pre-season testing. Whilst I worry for Lotus, as they seem to have got things very wrong pre-season. Anyway, I've set up a Haven F1 Prediction League if you are interested: gppredictor.com/league/join/code/ebad631a4cea7164de0bc224cbac4e3c
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 15, 2014 19:27:25 GMT 1
Grid for Australia: 1 Hamilton 2 Ricciardo 3 Rosberg 4 Magnussen 5 Alonso 6 Vergne 7 Hulkenberg 8 Kvyat 9 Massa 10 Button 11 Raikkonen 12 Vettel 13 Sutil 14 Kobayashi 15 Bottas (gearbox change) 16 Perez 17 Chilton 18 Bianchi 19 Ericsson 20 Grosjean 21 Gutierrez (gearbox change) 22 Maldonado (no time in Q1) Shame about Gutierrez's gearbox change, otherwise we would have had a back-row lockout from the team that won this race last year. Gutierrez has only been demoted 2 places, which ought to mean (under the new rules) that he will be demoted the remaining 3 places in Malaysia. Mercedes' 100th pole as an engine supplier. Magnussen starts in the same position as Hamilton did on his debut (for McLaren in Australia).
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rewardman
Member
*rock n roll juvenile*
Posts: 31,384
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Post by rewardman on Mar 15, 2014 20:33:10 GMT 1
I have just seen that it airs live here at 1 a.m. so it's pretty unlikely that I'll be watching.
I'll have to wait for the more time zone friendly races later on.
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frag
Member
*Paranoid Android*
I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Posts: 25,121
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Post by frag on Mar 18, 2014 22:51:17 GMT 1
I thought it was a decent GP overall, even though Rosberg was so far in front. The performance of Bottas was a highlight.
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Post by paulgilb on Mar 18, 2014 23:36:54 GMT 1
Some stats that I discovered/read elsewhere:
Mercedes' 100th win as an engine supplier (in the same race where they managed their 100th pole).
4 DNFs from 4 starts for Maldonado in Australia (although he was classified in 2012).
At all 4 circuits at which Rosberg has won, he has also managed 1 other podium (at no other circuit has he managed 2 podiums).
Rosberg's 2 most recent wins have both come in races where Hamilton was on pole and both Hamilton and Vettel suffered mechanical problems.
Magnussen crossed the line in 3rd - the same position as Hamilton on his debut (for McLaren in Australia).
2nd time (after Canada 2004) that Button has scored a podium finish but not actually stood on the podium - the reverse happened in San Marino 2005.
Button's top 5 finishes: 15 wins, 15 2nd, 20 3rds, 20 4ths, 25 5ths.
Both drivers to have won 13 races in one season have failed to finish the first race of the following season (in both cases their team-mate crossed the line 2nd).
Ricciardo is the 2nd Australian driver (after Webber in 2002) to have stood on the Melbourne podium without officially having a podium finish there.
2nd time in 3 years that Hamilton has been on pole in Australia but his team-mate has won.
Last 5 F1 disqualifications have all happened at Australia.
Hulkenberg's first completed race lap at Melbourne.
Last time 2 drivers scored their first points in the same race: Alguersuari and Hulkenberg in Malaysia 2010.
Second time (after Brazil 2000) that a driver has been disqualified from 2nd place in a race where the record for Youngest Ever Points Scorer has been broken (in both cases the DQ'd driver's team-mate broke down, as did the pole-sitter, although they were the same driver in 2000).
Magnussen is the first driver to finish on the podium on his debut since Hamilton in 2007, and the first driver to finish 2nd on his debut since J Villeneuve in 1996. Only Vettel has finished on the podium at a younger age than Magnussen.
Kvyat is the youngest-ever points scorer.
First race without a Renault engine in the podium places since Brazil 2012.
Alonso's 30th consecutive race without a front-row start - the worst such run of his career.
First time since Abu Dhabi 2009 that the Enstone team did not get either car out of Q1.
12th consecutive points-scoring finish for Alonso in Melbourne - only Schumacher in Barcelona has a longer streak (14 years).
Chilton is only the second driver to have been classified last 4 races in a row - the first was Pascal Fabre in 1987.
First time since Hungary 1997 that 2 sons of former F1 drivers stood on the podium.
First time that 3 Scandinavians finished in the top 10 (counting Finland as part of Scandinavia).
First time since Masten Gregory and Stuart Lewis-Evans in Monaco 1957 that 2 drivers scored on their debuts. Close call: Australia 2008 (Bourdais in his first start, Nakajima in his 2nd).
Kimi Raikkonen is the youngest "oldest driver on the grid" in F1 history.
15th time in a row that the German national anthem was played on the podium.
Earliest fastest lap in a dry race (lap 19) since refuelling was banned.
All 3 drivers who stood on the podium were non-champions (first time since Monaco 2010, although Vettel would become a champion) with champion team-mates.
First time since Canada 2008 that none of Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton or Button stood on the podium.
2 drivers stood on the podium for the first time - last happened in Germany 1994 (Panis and Bernard).
Fewest classified finishers (13) since Britain 2008. Fewest for a 22-car grid since Spain 2008 (both races had 13).
100% of Russian F1 drivers have scored points.
First time that the official podium did not match the actual podium since Germany 2012. In both cases a Red Bull was demoted/DQ'd from 2nd, with Button one of the drivers benefiting.
3rd time (after 2002 and 2006) that Massa has retired on the first lap in Melbourne - equals Alboreto in Australia, Hakkinen in Canada, and Trulli in Canada and Italy.
First time since Monaco 2010 that 3 teams had neither car classified.
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Post by Shireblogger on Mar 19, 2014 11:58:00 GMT 1
Kimi Raikkonen is the youngest "oldest driver on the grid" in F1 history. That's my favourite fact on the list. Thanks paulgilb.
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