Formula One: The new season with new drivers

With the 2014 season just around the corner here is a run-down of the new list of drivers and who looks set for big things this year.

Red Bull Racing will be looking to echo their previous seasons with another constructors’ and drivers’ championship under their belt. Sebastian Vettel returns for another year with the team and if they are able to produce yet another superb car then there will be no real reason why he won’t dominate and achieve more records. Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo makes a step up to his sister team, replacing fellow Australian Mark Webber who retired at the end of last season.

A round of changes

McLaren, in a shock end to the season, decided to replace new signing Sergio Perez with rookie Kevin Magnussen. With their 2013 issues the team will be looking to move back up to their previous status. Jenson Button once again becomes their number one driver and it will be interesting to see what Magnussen can achieve at the team.

Changes at Ferrari have been well documented of late as Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen made the move over to accompany Fernando Alonso. Both ex world champions will be competing at their very hardest to knock Vettel off his podium but whether they will work well as a team or not remains to be seen. This led to Felipe Massa being forced to move to Williams, where he leads Valtteri Bottas who performed well last year and promises to bring even more to the team this year.

Changes at Lotus see Pastor Maldonado accompany Romain Grosjean. It was a shame not to see Nico Hulkenberg with the team (he has returned to Force India) after his great performances for Sauber in 2013. The Venezuelan brings a lot of financial backing and with Lotus struggling with money at the moment he could do a lot of good for the team. He tweeted:

I’m very proud to reach @Lotus_F1Team and motivated for the next 2014 F1 season, lets push very hard!!!!
— Pastor Maldonado (@Pastormaldo) November 29, 2013

There are two other new faces on the grid with rookies Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson competing for Toro Rosso and Caterham respectively. Caterham have also chosen to bring back Japanese Kamui Kobayashi who lost his seat in Formula 1 in 2012. This leaves Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde with no drive in 2014. Ericsson said this on Twitter after the news was announced:

F1 2014 with Caterham!! So proud and happy. Thanks for all your support! Tack för allt stöd! #F1 http://t.co/sjCOPSxPuQ
— Marcus Ericsson (@Ericsson_Marcus) January 21, 2014

The only two teams to keep their drivers the same as last season are Mercedes (Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton) and Marussia (Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton). Both teams performed well in the previous season and can definitely bring even more this year. Chilton was the only driver to finish every race of 2013, achieving a record that even Vettel could not manage and he shows plenty of potential for 2014. Chilton had this to say:

Very happy to announce that I will be continuing with @Marussia_F1Team in the 2014 F1 World Championship. Great bunch of people #TeamSpirit
— Max Chilton (@maxchilton) January 11, 2014

With all the changes it looks like 2014 is set to be another dramatic year with plenty of new faces to watch out for. Whether anyone can stop the Red Bull will have to be seen when the season begins in Australia at the start of March.

Official 2014 Driver List

Red Bull – Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo

Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg

McLaren – Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen

Ferrari – Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen

Lotus – Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado

Force India – Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez

Sauber –Adrain Sutil, Esteban Gutierrez

Toro Rosso – Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniil Kvyat

Williams – Felipe Massa, Valtteri Bottas

Marussia – Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton

Caterham – Kamui Kobayashi, Marcus Ericsson