WMSC confirm 21 race calendar for 2015

The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has today confirmed that there will be a 21 race calendar for the 2015 Formula One World Championship.

The WMSC met in Doha to discuss a number of issues before the end of the year. This included a confirmation of the 2015 calendar which includes the shock involvement of the Korean Grand Prix. It also includes a new Grand Prix in Mexico. The season will run from March to November once again starting in Australia and finishing in Abu Dhabi.

• 13th – 15th March – Australian Grand Prix
• 27th – 29th March – Malaysian Grand Prix
• 10th – 12th April – Chinese Grand Prix
• 17th – 19th April – Bahrain Grand Prix
• 1st – 3rd May – Korean Grand Prix (TBC)
• 8th – 10th May – Spanish Grand Prix
• 21st – 24th May – Monaco Grand Prix
• 5th – 7th June – Canadian Grand Prix
• 19th – 21st June – Austrian Grand Prix
• 3rd – 5th July – British Grand Prix
• 17th – 19th July – German Grand Prix
• 24th – 26th July – Hungarian Grand Prix
• 21st – 23rd August – Belgian Grand Prix
• 4th – 6th September – Italian Grand Prix
• 18th – 20th September – Singapore Grand Prix
• 25th – 27th September – Japanese Grand Prix
• 9th – 11th October – Russian Grand Prix
• 23rd – 25th October – US Grand Prix
• 30th October – 1st November – Mexican Grand Prix
• 13th – 15th November – Brazilian Grand Prix
• 27th – 29th November – Abu Dhabi Grand Pri

A number of decisions were also taken in relation to the 2015 sporting and technical regulations. The controversial double points rule which was introduced for the first time in 2014 will be dropped as well as the introduction of standing restarts following a safety car. If a race is suspended, drivers should make their way to the pit-lane – and not the grid as has been the case in the past – where they will line up behind the first car in the fast lane. A solution for backmarkers has also been introduced. In the case of a backmarker needing to unlap themselves before the race restarts after a safety car period, the safety car will enter the pits at the end of the following lap, regardless of if the cars have joined the back of the group.

During this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race weekend drivers tested a new Virtual Safety Car (VSC) system which has now been given the green light for 2015. It will be used when double waved yellow flags are needed on any section of the track but when circumstances do not warrant the use of the safety car itself. Other decisions made include the introduction of a rule which means a driver will have to start from the pit-lane if any team personnel or equipment remains on the grid following the 15 second signal. If a driver does not start from the pit-lane they will be given a ten second stop/go penalty.

On the subject of penalties, drivers will no longer be forced to carry the remainder of a grid penalty for the next race. Instead time penalties will be enforced as follows:

• 1 to 5 grid places remain: a five second stop/go penalty
• 6 to 10 grid places remain: a drive through penalty
• 11 to 20 grid places remain: a ten second stop/go penalty
• more than 20 grid places remain: a time penalty

So, for example, if a driver is given a ten place grid penalty but qualifies 16th out of 22 cars, they will have four grid places remaining so will be given a five second stop/go penalty.

Further news from the World Motorsport Council’s meeting in Doha can be found by following the link, including the conclusions from the Accident Panel’s investigation into Jules Bianchi’s accident.

The winner takes it all – Abu Dhabi quali

No points to be won on Saturday, of course, but lots of head to heads to be decided as far as qualifying performance over the season. None more so than at Mclaren, who enter the final weekend of a distinctly lacklustre season with no drivers confirmed for 2015. This could be the final chance to shine for those who haven’t secured a drive for next season.

It’s fitting that the season comes to an end in the desert twilight and there’s a definite end-of-term feel with the Constructors’ Championship already done and dusted. With all eyes on the Drivers’ Championship (and heads spinning from the variety of mathematical permutations), Abu Dhabi’s wide, trouble-free Yas Marina circuit is the perfect arena for some racing action.

There was the small matter of qualifying to sort out first. With Caterham present and correct, albeit with newbie Will Stevens partnering Kobyashi, there was a 20-car line-up at the start of Q1. Grosjean for Lotus was carrying a penalty so huge, he would probably be starting from the Bahrain grid for his complete powertrain change. No major incidents in Q1, the casualties were the Caterhams, the Lotuses and the Sauber of Gutierrez, underlining another season to forget for the Swiss team.

Almost inevitably it was the Mercedes pair topping the Q2 times for most of the session, with Williams in close attendance. In fact, Massa and Bottas managed to split the Mercedes pair. McLaren had a mixed session, with Button 6th but Magnussen dumped out at the death by a charging Kvyat’s Toro Rosso. Out in Q2: Sutil (Sauber), the Force Indias of Hulkenberg and Perez, Toro Rosso’s Vergne and Magnussen.

It was Hamilton who blinked first, locking up at the end of his first Q3 flying lap and handing the advantage to his team mate but still recording the second-fastest lap in the process. With everybody out on track for their final runs, it would be Hamilton who was at the back of the queue and therefore the last to record a qualifying time. As the times tumbled, Rosberg planted his Mercedes in pole from Hamilton, followed by Williams’ Bottas and Massa, the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Vettel, Toro Rosso’s Kyvat, and the Ferraris of Raikkonen and Alonso.

The penultimate countdown – Brazilian GP quali

Toto Wolff’s comments last year about one team dominating a season being boring have come back to bite him with a vengeance, with Mercedes already polishing the 2014 Constructor’s Championship trophy and Hamilton or Rosberg at the top of pretty much every timesheet all season. It’s not likely he cares much though, as the season looks likely to be remembered as the one in which Mercedes won everything.

Coming into the Brazil weekend, the news that Marussia had finally succumbed to the ruinous financial pressures and ceased trading reignited the sustainability question, the whole debate underscored by Caterham’s frankly desperate crowdfunding attempts to drag themselves to the grid for the final race of the season.

On track, it was an overcast but dry Interlagos onto which Sauber led the way for this penultimate Q1 of the 2014 season. With the habitual backmarkers absent, it was Lotus who failed to progress joined by the Toro Rosso of Vergne and the Force India of Perez (carrying a seven place penalty over from the US GP). A very unhappy Alonso expressed his anger at his track position, feeling thwarted by Grosjean’s Lotus. Almost inevitably it was the Mercedes pair topping the session with local favourite Massa the best of the rest in his Williams.

It was McLaren who gambled first in Q2, deciding to leave Button and Magnussen in the garage having banked times provisionally putting them in p5 and 6 and hoping the Saubers of Sutil and Gutierrez didn’t spring an unwelcome surprise. It was Alonso who had to suffer the pain of watching the session unfold behind him, but he clung onto P10 to progress to Q3. With both Williams splitting the Mercedes, it was Massa in P2 who took the cheers of a partisan grandstand. Saubers out this ession, joined by Toro Rosso’s Kvyat (didn’t set a time and carrying a penalty) and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg,

Hamilton was first out his provisional pole lasting only until his team mate shaved three hundredths of a second off his time to top the time sheet. It was Rosberg who took the honours from Hamilton, Williams locking out row 2 and McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing sharing the remaining six slots.

2014: United States GP Grid

Here is the grid for the 2014 US Grand Prix, following grid penalties:

1. Nico Rosberg 1:36.067
2. Lewis Hamilton 1:36.443
3. Valtteri Bottas 1:36.906
4. Felipe Massa 1:37.205
5. Daniel Ricciardo 1:37.244
6. Fernando Alonso 1:37.610
7. Kevin Magnussen 1:37.706
8. Kimi Raikkonen 1:37.804
9. Adrian Sutil 1:38.810
10. Pastor Maldonado 1:38.467 (Q2 time)
11. Sergio Perez 1:38.554
12. Jenson Button* 1:37.655 (Q3 time)
13. Nico Hulkenberg 1:38.598
14. Jean-Eric Vergne 1:39.250 (Q1 time)
15. Esteban Gutierrez 1:39.555
16. Romain Grosjean 1:39.679
17. Daniil Kvyat** 1:38.699 (Q2 time)
Pit-lane: Sebastian Vettel 1:39.621

* 5 place grid drop for gearbox change
** grid drop for engine change

Macau Motorcycle GP entry list confirmed

The entry list for the 2014 Suncity Group Macau Grand Prix has been confirmed.

The list features a number of road racing’s biggest names including John McGuinness, Michael Rutter and Michael Dunlop. They will be joined by Ian Hutchinson, Gary Johnson, Jamie Hamilton and Horst Saiger amongst others. Three times winner Stuart Easton will also be in attendance along with Jimmy Storrar, Jeremy Toye, Martin Jessopp, Didier Grams, Lee Johnston and Stephen Thompson who all finished in the top ten last year.

The 2013 Macau Grand Prix saw Hutchinson make a triumphant return to road racing. After pipping the most experienced man at Macau – Rutter – to pole position by just 0.05s Hutchinson went on to beat him by nearly two and a half seconds. The gap back to Johnson in third was 8.7 seconds while McGuinness brought it home in fourth place albeit 23 seconds off the winner. This year will see Rutter swap to the Milwaukee Yamaha which brought Hutchinson success last year as he looks for his ninth victory, while Hutchinson himself will join Easton on Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasakis. Joining the stellar line-up at Macau this year will be impressive road racing newcomer Peter Hickman along with Michael Sweeney who will ride for John Burrows’ team. Hickman – who was the fastest newcomer at this year’s North West 200 and Isle of Man TT – will ride once again for Paul Shoesmith who will also be riding. Sweeney joins a recovering Dan Kneen on the entry list although the Manxman – who has impressed on the roads this year and took his first international victory at the Ulster Grand Prix – is still recovering from foot injuries sustained at the UGP.

Dunlop is returning to the race following his debut in 2011 where he finished in 12th position, this time riding a BMW. He is another rider who has enjoyed a stellar year on the roads with victories at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT. Dean Harrison – who was involved in the same accident as Kneen – is also returning following his debut in 2013 where he failed to finish the race. Also on the entry list are Roman Stamm, Tiago Magalhaes, Mark Miller, Steve Mercer, Nuno Caetano, Marc Fissette, Dan Cooper, Steve Henegan,  AJ Venter, Davy Morgan, Graham English and Brandon Cretu.

With an impressive line-up it has potential to be a thrilling event. The Macau GP takes place 13th – 16th November.

2014: Japanese Grand Prix Preview

In Singapore two weeks ago the championship was turned on its head. Lewis Hamilton was trailing team-mate Nico Rosberg by 27 points after Belgium and now he leads by three points after Rosberg’s car was compromised by a “substance contamination” forcing him to retire.

Now teams have travelled to Japan for the 15th round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship. The race weekend is under threat from Typhoon Phanfone, with Saturday and Sunday in particular set to be interrupted by heavy rain. Apart from the weather threat the main focus is the inter-team battle between Hamilton and Rosberg. Neither driver has won around Suzuka before with Hamilton’s 2007 Japanese Grand Prix victory coming in Fuji. The circuit is iconic and in the past has played host to the end of the championship. It is one that most drivers will have on their ‘bucket-list’ to win. Of the current field four drivers have won in Suzuka: Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 with his famous last lap move on Giancarlo Fisichella; Fernando Alonso in 2006 when Michael Schumacher’s engine gave up and tilted the title firmly in Alonso’s favour; Sebastian Vettel in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013; and Jenson Button in 2011.

Circuit: Suzuka
Number of Laps: 53
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Corners: 18
Lap Record: 1:31.540 – Kimi Raikkonen (2005)
Previous Japanese Grand Prix winners still on the grid: 5
Most Successful Team: McLaren (9 wins)
DRS Zones: 1   
Pirelli Tyres: Hard and Medium

The Suzuka circuit is a unique figure of 8 and features some of the toughest corners on the calendar – including the Esses, Spoon and 130R – but also requires good straight line speed leading to a compromise from teams on downforce. It is a circuit which can also be tough on tyres but that may be negated this weekend if the promised rain arrives, leaving drivers to use their limited number of intermediate and wet tyres.

As mentioned above the championship is finely poised with only three points separating the top two. Both drivers – who have had their fair share of reliaibilty issues during the season – will be hoping nothing else goes wrong. Mercedes may be dominating both championships but in terms of reliability they’re only the fourth best team of 2014. Ferrari have 26 race finishes from 28 starts, McLaren have 25, Red Bull have 24 and Mercedes have 23. Mercedes’ saving grace is that all 23 finishes have been in the points and at the upper end. There hasn’t been a race in 2014 without one of the Mercedes drivers on the podium.

Elsewhere the battle is heating up between Williams and Ferrari. Williams are currently third in the constructors championship but just nine points clear of the Scuderia. McLaren and Force India are locked in battle for fifth place – Force India moved ahead again following Singapore and currently lead McLaren by 6 points.

Because the night – Singapore quali

With off-track attention on the Mercedes-Benz inter-team rivalry, radio message bans and blown engines, it must have been a relief for the drivers to apply their concentration to piloting their machinery around the floodlit challenge that is the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Overnight rain had washed the track clean, so qualifying promised to be a game of nerves, with teams waiting for the track to ‘rubber in’ and offer increased level of grip. With outright speed secondary to precision and concentration, Singapore promised the possibility of a challenge to Mercedes’ qualifying dominance so far. The performance differential between the soft and supersoft compounds raised the possibility of teams sacrificing a set of the faster tyre to guarantee their quali progress.

With Ericsson’s Caterham still in the garage having its ERS unit replaced, it was Rosberg who came unstuck first on track, outbraking himself into Turn 8 and taking to the escape road to avoid flat-spotting his tyres. Grosjean reported brake power failure and team mate Maldonado found himself off the track at Turn 7. It was the Ferrari pair who put in the surprise performance, with Raikkonen edging his team mate at the top of the Q1 time sheet.

It was the Ferrari pair again who immediately brought the fight to Mercedes, with both drivers setting the early Q2 pace. Hamilton’s response was to shave a couple of thousandths off Alonso’s time to retake the top spot. It was a cagey session, with the need to save tyres for Q3 balanced against an evolving track informing teams’ decisions whether or not to sit on the times they had banked or use tyre resources to ensure their progress to the last session. Mclaren’s Jenson Button missed progressing to Q3 by two thousandths of a second.

All gloves were off for Q3, the early runs favouring everyone but Mercedes. After two relatively lacklustre sessions, it was Williams who stepped up, with Massa registering the fastest lap in the early part of the session. With everyone out for final flying laps, Raikkonen reported a loss of power and was told to stop the car by the team. It was a scramble for times, with Ricciardo the first the break Massa’s time. It was the last chance saloon as the cars streamed over the line with times tumbling. Business as usual in the end, with Hamilton taking pole from his team mate by seven thousandths of a second. Red Bull locked out the second row.

2014: Italian Grand Prix Preview

After the dramas of Belgium two weeks ago, Formula One heads to the fastest circuit on the calendar for the Italian Grand Prix. Monza, which made its debut on the F1 calendar in 1950, will serve as the sport’s last traditional European stop before setting off on the last six fly away races of the season. Sparks flew at the Belgium Grand Prix as team-mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton made contact with each other which subsequently led to the latter retiring from the race while the former extended his championship lead to 29 points.

Through the drama came the Honey Badger – Daniel Ricciardo – a driver who has been the only man not in a Silver Arrows to stand on the top step of the podium this season. He has won not once, not twice but three times this year while his team-mate – four time world champion Sebastian Vettel – has struggled somewhat. The gap back to Ricciardo from Hamilton is 35 points, and with tracks that Red Bull have excelled at in the past coming up (Vettel won them all – bar the Russian Grand Prix – last season) it looks like Mercedes 1-2 finish in the drivers championship could be far from secure.

Italian Grand Prix Stats

Circuit: Autodromo di Monza
Number of Laps: 53
Circuit Length: 5.793km
Number of Corners: 11
Lap Record: 1:21.046 Rubens Barrichello (2004)
Previous Hungarian Grand Prix winners still on the grid: 3
Most Successful Team: Ferrari (19 wins)
DRS Zones: 2    
Pirelli Tyres: Hard and Medium

Due to its high speed nature a low downforce configuration is essential for Monza. Teams such as Red Bull and McLaren demonstrated that their cars work well under these conditions with their performances last time out in Belgium. The downside to lower downforce means that the cars move around a lot more in braking zones, making lock-ups more likely. The pit straight – which is joined by the infamous and fast Parabolica corner – will see drivers reach the highest speeds of the year and this is quickly followed by a heavy braking zone for the tight first chicane. Monza is a circuit renowned for being tough on the brakes but also features a mix of low and medium speed corners.

69% of the lap is spent at full throttle and this could have consequences for the power units. Pirelli have brought their two hardest compounds – medium and hard – due to the mixture of long fast straights and slow corners. “Our home race also happens to be one of the most demanding of the year for the tyres, due to the rapid layout of the circuit,” Paul Hembery explained. “The faster a circuit is the more stressful it is for the tyres because of the heat build up that all these forces entail. The cars run a very low downforce set-up for Monza to maximise their top speed on the straights. This has a distinct effect on the tyres, as less downforce means that the cars tend to slide more and run a greater risk of wheels locking up in the braking areas, which are a key element of Monza. These lock-ups can lead to flat spots, although the design of our tyre structure and compounds this year means that flat spots are a much less common occurrence than they used to be.”

As previously mentioned, the Mercedes duo will arrive at the Italian Grand Prix with the tension of two weeks ago still fizzling. The team held internal talks and revealed in a statement that “suitable disciplinary measures [had] been taken for the incident” with Rosberg accepting responsibility and apologising for his role in the accident. Mercedes also confirmed that their drivers are free to race but must not make contact again. Rosberg faced a harsh back-lash after the race – particularly from senior Mercedes figures Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda – something which could be in the back of his mind when they get back to action. Being so publicly criticised by the team may leave Rosberg feeling he has something to prove. Hamilton has slipped to 29 points behind his team-mate and faces a mountain to climb if he is to get back on terms.

Elsewhere Kamui Kobayashi will return to the cockpit after having to relinquish his seat to Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer in Belgium. Lotterer performed well and out-qualified his team-mate but his race came to an end after just a lap when he loss all power. Reports suggested that he had been due to return for the Italian Grand Prix but turned down the opportunity after learning that Roberto Merhi would be getting a run in FP1. Lotterer felt that as a rookie he would need as much time in the car as possible and losing a session would not be beneficial to him.

Vettel is the most successful current driver at Monza with three wins there to his name – including his maiden F1 victory in 2008. Fernando Alonso has won twice while Hamilton has won once.

The sun’ll come out tomorrow – Belgian GP quali

With the rain stopping just before the session commenced, the good drainage of the spa circuit posed an immediate problem for the runners in Q1. A 70% chance of rain during the session provoked a scramble for times to be banked. Heavy spray was an issue, with virtually everybody out on the intermediate tyre scrambling to put times on the board. The inters proved to be the right choice, with those running the full wet tyres quickly swapping to the faster tyre. Gutierrez was an early casualty, retiring his Sauber midway through the session.

It was, inevitably perhaps, the Mercedes leading the charge, with Hamilton edging his team mate despite an early excursion onto the run-off. The threat of rain offset by a drying track, the advice from most teams was simply to keep circulating and registering times in case conditions changed. Caterham’s temporary driver Lotterer initially struggled to adapt to the conditions, failing to register a time within the 107% limit with a minute to go but eventually outpacing his teammate. Hulkenberg was a key casualty of the first session.

It was inters again for Q2, with light rain falling and track on the cusp of warranting a switch to the full wet tyre. There was plenty of off-track action, with Alonso and Hamilton taking to the run-offs. With the balance of drying track versus falling rain favouring the inters, times improved throughout the session. It was the Mercedes pairing leading the charge by some margin, with Hamilton topping the timesheet foremost of the session. Toro Rosso was the biggest casualty of the session, with both drivers failing to prceed to Q3.

It was the big five teams jostling for the final grid positions in Q3. Vettel was first out. With spray still flying, paradoxically the sun began to break through, prompting some consideration of the very slight possibility of the track being dry enough to support running on slick tyres at the end of the session.  With the clock running down, it was clear that it would be a final dash on a fresh set of the inters that would determine final positions.  No surprises at the end of the session, with Rosberg edging Hamilton for pole, from Vettel and Alonso.

F1 2014: The Season So Far in Numbers

With eleven races having already been completed just eight stand between 22 drivers and the end of the 2014 Formula One season. Mercedes have dominated so far and the team are leading the constructors championship by a considerable margin while Nico Rosberg is on top of the drivers championship. We have already looked at the winners and losers of 2014 (part one & part two) but here is an overall look at the season so far in numbers.

The Basics

Unsurprisingly, Mercedes top most of the basic statistics. Nico Rosberg has most pole positions (6), Lewis Hamilton has most wins (5), and Rosberg also has most podiums (9). Mercedes have the most pole positions overall (10) – Williams are the only other team to have a 2014 pole – while they also lead the wins tally (9), with Daniel Ricciardo winning the other two for Red Bull. Mercedes have 16 podiums in total (from a possible 22) compared with Red Bull’s 7.

It’s Fernando Alonso who has most points finishes – a 100% record for the year – but Mercedes have most points finishes as a team. You will also find the Silver Arrows at the top of the fastest laps total as well as the team have 7 – that’s six more than any other team. While Mercedes may be dominating every other statistic one area they falter is finishes.

Jenson Button and Alonso have most classified finishes – another 100% record – with McLaren and Ferrari also leading the way with 21 each. Mercedes have 19 classified finishes from 22 so far. Alonso is the only driver to finish every race in 2014 and Ferrari lead the actual finishes tally as well.

Qualifying

Not one driver in 2014 has a clean sweep in qualifying. The driver with the best record over their team-mate is Romain Grosjean who currently leads Pastor Maldonado 10 – 1. Nico Hulkenberg leads Sergio Perez 9-2 as does Kamui Kobayashi over Marcus Ericsson. Other biggish gaps are 8-3, with Valtteri Bottas leading Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi leading Max Chilton.

The most evenly matched team-mates in qualifying can be found at McLaren, Toro Rosso, and Red Bull where one driver is beating the other 6-5. Jenson Button, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Daniel Ricciardo are the drivers ahead.

There have been 17 grid drops so far in 2014 with drivers losing a combined total of 94 places between them (not including when drivers are excluded from qualifying/made to start from the pit-lane).

A total of 12 drivers have received grid penalties in 2014 of either 3, 5 or 10 places. Esteban Gutierrez has dropped the most places in total – 23 – from four grid penalties. Three of these were as a result of car problems (gearbox) and one was for a driver error (causing a collision). Other drivers with grid penalties this year are as follows:

• Valtteri Bottas: 1 car (5 places, gearbox), 1 driver (5 places, impeding)
• Max Chilton: 1 car (5 places, gearbox), 1 driver (3 places, causing a collision)
• Daniel Ricciardo: 1 car (10 places, unsafe release)
• Jean-Eric Vergne: 1 car (10 places, loose wheel in practice)
• Sebastian Vettel: 1 car (5 places, gearbox)
• Jules Bianchi: 1 car (5 places, gearbox)
• Kamui Kobayashi: 1 car (5 places, gearbox)
• Lewis Hamilton: 1 car (5 places, gearbox)
• Adrian Sutil: 1 driver (5 places, impeding)
• Pastor Maldonado: 1 driver (5 places causing a collision)
• Sergio Perez: 1 driver (5 places, causing a collision)

The top ten in terms of average starting position is as follows:

1. Nico Rosberg 1.90
2. Daniel Ricciardo 5.09
3. Lewis Hamilton 6.09
4. Sebastian Vettel 6.45
5. Fernando Alonso 6.72
6. Valtteri Bottas 7.72
7. Felipe Massa 8.18
8. Nico Hulkenberg 8.18
9. Jenson Button 9
10. Kevin Magnussen 9.54

In terms of starting positions the biggest gap between team-mates is 4.18 between the Mercedes duo while the smallest gap between team-mates is 0.45 between the Toro Rosso and Williams pairing.

Races

Monaco, Canada, and Hungary have been the races so far with most safety cars – 2 – while Malaysia, China, Spain, and Austria all had 0 safety cars.

All but two of the eleven races so far have seen all 22 cars start the race. Sergio Perez failed to start in Malaysia due to a gearbox problem while Pastor Maldonado failed to start in Monaco thanks to a faulty fuel pump. The races with most classified finishes were China and Spain – both with 20 – while Australia had the fewest classified finishers (13). The race with most retirements was the Canadian Grand Prix which saw 9 drivers retire from the race while China and Spain had fewest retirements – 2 each.

The race with the most lead changes was Hungary (8) which also had the most different race leaders (5). Bahrain saw 15 drivers finish on the lead lap while only four managed that feat in Monaco. Eight teams scored points in Monaco – including Marussia’s first ever Formula 1 points – while only 5 scored in Bahrain and Austria. The most positions gained in one race was achieved by Lewis Hamilton last time out when he climbed 19 spots from 22nd and starting in the pit-lane.

The Malaysian and Bahrain Grand Prix both saw 60 visits to the pit-lane while the British Grand Prix saw fewest visits (25). The Bahrain Grand Prix saw 57 pit-stops with the British Grand Prix only featuring 23.

The race with most retirements in the pit-lane was Canada (5) while Spain and Germany saw none. There were most penalties in the pit-lane (stop/go or drive through) in Monaco (4) and fewest in China, Spain, Canada and Hungary (0).

Leading

Eight drivers have led a race in 2014: Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Of the eight drivers Rosberg has led most laps (342) while Button has led fewest (1).

Laps

Fernando Alonso is the only driver in 2014 to complete every racing lap. So far this season there have been 698. Next up are Jenson Button with 693 and Daniel Ricciardo with 691. Marcus Ericsson has completed fewest racing laps (466) with Jean-Eric Vergne and Pastor Maldonado both also completeing fewer than 500 laps each (484 and 487 respectively).

McLaren are the team who have completed most racing laps in 2014. They have completed 1369/1396 (98.07%). Only one other team has completed over 90% of available racing laps and that is championship leaders Mercedes who have completed 1303 in total (93.34%).

McLaren also dominate in overall laps for the season with 1695 for Kevin Magnussen the most of any driver. This takes into account laps completed in all three practice sessions, qualifying, and the race every weekend. The Caterham duo have completed fewest laps overall with Kamui Kobayashi on 1212 while Marcus Ericsson has completed a few more (1277). McLaren as a team have completed 3357 laps overall – 133 more than Mercedes.