2014

The 2014 season opened Formula 1’s hybrid era. Mercedes won 16 of the 19 races, and in 11 of them Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished one-two. Hamilton took 11 wins and the title; Rosberg won five races and took the most poles — 11. Mercedes sealed the Constructors’ Championship with three rounds to go, at the Russian Grand Prix, and finished the season on 701 points to Red Bull’s 405.

Apart from the Mercedes drivers, the only race winner was Daniel Ricciardo, who had moved up to Red Bull from Toro Rosso. He took the first win of his career at the Canadian Grand Prix on 8 June 2014, then won in Hungary and Belgium and finished third with 238 points. His team-mate, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, went without a win and finished fifth. Williams were third among the constructors: Felipe Massa took pole in Austria, and Valtteri Bottas finished on the podium six times and was fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

The season began with Rosberg winning the Australian Grand Prix on 16 March 2014 — Hamilton retired there after two laps. Hamilton replied with four wins in a row, from Malaysia to Spain, and took the lead, but Rosberg won in Monaco and went back to the top. Hamilton retired again in Canada, and in Belgium the two Mercedes collided early in the race: Hamilton failed to finish, Rosberg came second, and his lead grew to 29 points. Then Hamilton won five races in a row — in Italy, Singapore, Japan, Russia and the United States. Rosberg retired in Singapore, and the lead passed to Hamilton. Rosberg won the penultimate round in Brazil, and the pair arrived at the Abu Dhabi finale 17 points apart: 334 for Hamilton to Rosberg’s 317.

The final round, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 23 November 2014, was run under a rule used only that season: points for the last race were doubled, so the winner got 50. Second place was enough for Hamilton to take the title whatever his team-mate did. Rosberg started from pole, Hamilton second. Hamilton won, while Rosberg, hit by problems with his car, slipped back to finish 14th, a lap down and out of the points. The Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas came home second and third. Hamilton became world champion for the second time, after 2008, and finished the season with 384 points to Rosberg’s 317.

The biggest change was the power units: instead of 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8s, the cars got 1.6-litre turbocharged V6s with energy recovery systems, and fuel use was capped at 100 kilograms per race. Engines came from Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault; besides the works team, Williams, McLaren and Force India ran Mercedes power units. From this season drivers had permanent numbers of their own choosing.

The 19-round calendar included the Russian Grand Prix for the first time — it was held in Sochi on 12 October 2014. In June the Austrian Grand Prix took place for the first time since 2003. Financial trouble forced two teams to miss races at the end of the season: Marussia sat out the last three, while Caterham missed the United States and Brazilian Grands Prix and returned only for the Abu Dhabi finale. The two points Jules Bianchi earned with ninth place in Monaco were Marussia’s first and secured them ninth in the Constructors’ Championship; Caterham did not score a single point.

Kevin Magnussen made his McLaren debut with second place at the Australian Grand Prix, where Ricciardo was disqualified after the finish. In the same race 19-year-old Daniil Kvyat finished ninth, scoring points in his very first start for Toro Rosso. Marcus Ericsson made his debut with Caterham, and for the final round the team fielded rookie Will Stevens.

At the Japanese Grand Prix on 5 October 2014 Jules Bianchi suffered a serious crash; it was his last race, and he died in July 2015. The 2014 season proved to be the last in Formula 1 for Kamui Kobayashi, Jean-Éric Vergne and Max Chilton, and for the Caterham team. After the finale Vettel moved from Red Bull to Ferrari, and Fernando Alonso from Ferrari to McLaren.