2014 Season

Driver changes

The winter market brings a sweeping reshuffle across the grid.

Felipe Massa leaves Ferrari after eight years, joining Williams alongside Valtteri Bottas. Pastor Maldonado, displaced at Williams, moves to Lotus to fill the seat vacated by Kimi Räikkönen. Räikkönen returns to Ferrari — the team he drove for from 2007 to 2009 — to partner Fernando Alonso. Their pairing marks the first time since 1954 that Ferrari has fielded two World Drivers’ Champions simultaneously.

Mark Webber retires after 12 Formula One seasons, seven with Red Bull Racing, and moves to the FIA World Endurance Championship. Daniel Ricciardo graduates from Toro Rosso to replace him, becoming only the second driver promoted from the junior team to its senior outfit. Toro Rosso turn to 2013 GP3 Series champion Daniil Kvyat as Ricciardo’s replacement — the first Russian driver to compete in Formula One.

Sergio Pérez departs McLaren after a single season and joins Force India. His replacement is Kevin Magnussen — 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion and McLaren Young Driver Programme member — making his Formula One debut. Nico Hülkenberg returns to Force India from Sauber, displacing both Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil. Di Resta leaves Formula One entirely for the DTM; Sutil picks up Hülkenberg’s old seat at Sauber.

Kamui Kobayashi returns to Formula One with Caterham after a year in the World Endurance Championship, partnering GP2 regular Marcus Ericsson — the first Swedish driver in Formula One since Stefan Johansson retired in 1991. Both Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic lose their Caterham seats; each takes a reserve role elsewhere.

Susie Wolff joins Williams as a test and reserve driver with a programme that includes Free Practice 1 appearances, making her the first female driver to take part in a Formula One race weekend since Giovanna Amati failed to qualify for the 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Team changes

Marussia drops Cosworth — which chose not to build an engine to the new 2014 specifications — and joins Ferrari’s customer programme for both engine and complete powertrain. Toro Rosso ends its seven-year arrangement with Ferrari and switches to Renault power. Williams parts ways with Renault after two seasons and signs a long-term deal to run Mercedes engines.

Calendar

Nineteen races, one fewer than 2013, with two new venues and two dropped.

The Russian Grand Prix makes its World Championship debut at the Sochi Autodrom, a street circuit built around the 2014 Winter Olympic Park. It is the first Russian Grand Prix in over a century. The Austrian Grand Prix returns after a ten-year absence: Red Bull reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to revive the race at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, which last hosted the event in 2003 as the A1-Ring.

The Bahrain Grand Prix runs as a night race for the first time, marking the event’s tenth anniversary. The Hockenheimring returns for the German Grand Prix in keeping with its alternating arrangement with the Nürburgring established in 2008.

The Indian Grand Prix is dropped following unresolved taxation disputes and a devalued rupee. The Korean Grand Prix also disappears from the calendar, along with the Mexican Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of America, which were removed from the final schedule.

Regulation changes

The 2014 season brings the most far-reaching rule changes since the introduction of the V8 engine formula in 2006. The 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8, the sport’s standard from 2006 to 2013, is replaced by a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid power unit. The unit comprises six separately homologated components: internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger (TC), Motor Generator Unit–Kinetic (MGU-K), Motor Generator Unit–Heat (MGU-H), Energy Store (ES), and Control Electronics (CE). Combined, the MGU-K and MGU-H deliver an additional 161 bhp for up to 33 seconds per lap — compared to the 80 bhp for six seconds provided by the previous KERS system. Engines are limited to 15,000 rpm; fuel flow is capped at 100 kg/h above 10,500 rpm.

Teams must nominate eight gear ratios before the first race of the season and use them at every circuit. One permitted change is allowed mid-season; any further unscheduled gearbox change incurs a grid penalty.

Lower noses return for the first time since 2010: the tip of the nose must sit no higher than 185 mm above the ground, outlawing the stepped-nose designs of 2012–13. The beam wing — the small additional wing above the rear diffuser — is banned. Minimum car weight rises from 642 to 691 kg to account for the heavier power unit and energy recovery hardware.

The engine component allocation is tightened: drivers may use a maximum of five units of each power unit component per season. Exceeding the quota on any single component triggers a ten-place grid penalty; using a sixth unit in total requires the driver to start from the pit lane.

The penalty system is overhauled. A rolling twelve-month “penalty points” scheme is introduced for driving offences, with twelve accumulated points earning an automatic race ban. Five-second time penalties are available to stewards for minor infringements, serving as a proportionate sanction where a drive-through or stop-go would be excessive. The pit lane speed limit drops from 100 km/h to 80 km/h.

Permanent driver numbers are assigned for the duration of a driver’s career, modelled on the MotoGP system. The defending World Champion has the right to display the number 1; his permanent number is reserved while he uses it. The FIA introduces the inaugural FIA Pole Trophy, a non-championship award for the driver with the most pole positions over the season.

Qualifying is adjusted: Q3 extends to 12 minutes (up from 10), with Q1 trimmed to 18 minutes to keep the overall session within one hour. Mid-season testing returns: each European venue hosting its race holds a two-day test in the following week, with one day dedicated to Pirelli tyre development.

Double points are awarded at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to keep the championship alive to the final round.

The 107% rule is relaxed for the opening part of the season. FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting stated that the stewards would take a case-by-case approach as teams adapt to the complexity of the new power unit formula.