Grading the Formula 1 Teams on Their 2014 Performances
The first season of the new V6 turbo hybrid era saw a one-team demolition of the field.
In 19 races, Mercedes took 18 poles and 16 wins and set 12 fastest laps. Their closest challengers, Red Bull, managed just three wins—each as the result of a Mercedes error.
But while the battle at the front was an all-silver affair, the contest further down the order was a sea of colour. Red Bull, Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso all scored points on a regular basis, with the competitive order often changing on a race-to-race basis.
Further back, we witnessed Lotus and Sauber struggling for reliability and pace, while Marussia and Caterham once again found themselves propping up the time sheets.
Some teams exceeded expectations, while others fell way short.
Looking at pace, reliability, achievements, expectation and what might have been, here are grades for each team's 2014 season.
One of the common UK grading systems, with grades from A* to G, is used. A* is the best possible grade, G is the worst. C is "OK."
Caterham
1 of 11
Caterham started the year where they ended the last and never looked likely to progress.
Hampered by a lack of funding and a poor Renault power unit, the Leafield-based team failed to score a point in the opening half of the year. Owner Tony Fernandes sold the team, but this failed to drive them forward.
It also failed to keep them afloat.
Caterham called in administrators after the Russian Grand Prix and missed two races. A crowdfunding effort/fire sale saw them make an appearance at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but their future remains bleak.
They ended the season 11th in the championship with zero points.
Grade: D
Sauber
2 of 11
Sauber enjoyed a reasonable end to 2013, finishing seventh in the championship. But the team entered 2014 with an uninspiring driver line-up and a weak Ferrari engine.
These factors, mated to the group's less-than-rosy finances, meant a tough year was ahead.
Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez finished 11th and 12th at the first race of the season, respectively, and shockingly, that was as good as it got.
The car and engine package simply wasn't strong enough, and on a few occasions, Marussia and Caterham looked within striking distance.
A slight improvement late in the year was not enough to bring them even a single point. It was without a doubt Sauber's worst season.
Grade: E
Marussia
3 of 11
Marussia finished 10th in 2013 and realistically hoped to repeat that in 2014.
Their pace was, as expected, poor. Formula One's smallest team simply did not have the budget to compete with anyone other than Caterham. Driver Max Chilton revealed to Sky Sports in December that cash was so tight they didn't even know if they'd make it to the first race.
Despite never being sure if they were competing in their last grand prix, Marussia pushed on, and the greatest result of their short history came at Monaco. Jules Bianchi's two points for ninth place looked like it may secure their future.
But it wasn't to be. Following Bianchi's horrific crash in Japan and a one-car appearance at their home race, Marussia went into administration and disappeared from the grid.
Sadly, it's unlikely they'll be back, but they did finish ninth in the final 2014 standings—a fine achievement.
Grade: C
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Lotus
4 of 11
Lotus came fourth in the championship in 2013, with one win and 13 further podiums. A repeat of that success was never likely in 2014, but few could have foreseen just how far they would fall.
From the start of winter testing, the Enstone team were in trouble, and a double-DNF at the season-opener set the tone for the rest of their season.
They got some points on the board thanks to Romain Grosjean's performances at Monaco and Spain, but the Frenchman didn't score again as Lotus returned to the rear of the midfield. Pastor Maldonado added two late points, taking their final total to a lowly 10.
Last season, they scored 315.
This was a dreadful year and one they hope will never be repeated.
Grade: F
Toro Rosso
5 of 11
Toro Rosso were eighth in 2013, with 33 points from 11 top-10 finishes. A similar display was expected in 2014.
They started the year brightly with a double-points finish, with Jean-Eric Vergne leading home rookie team-mate Daniil Kvyat. But for much of the first half of the year, finishing at all—let alone in the top 10—proved too much to ask.
Time and again, the drivers retired, handfuls of points slipping through their fingers. Reliability just wasn't good enough, and by the time it improved midway through the season, it was too late.
A final placing of seventh represents an improvement, but a grand total of 30 points is disappointing. The car was capable of more.
Grade: C
Force India
6 of 11
Force India were sixth in 2013 and had their sights set on the top five in 2014.
They looked strong at the start of the year, with Nico Hulkenberg reeling off 10 consecutive points finishes. Sergio Perez weighed in, too, scoring the team's first podium since 2009 at the third race of the year.
The British-based Indian team were ahead of McLaren at this stage but began to slip back. Autosport reports that an error in the direction of their aerodynamic development caused the slide.
They made some fixes, and a strong showing at the final race bumped them up to 155 points—a big improvement on last season.
Overall, the year was a success, better than being sixth in the championship suggests. But one wonders what they might have achieved without that mid-season aero error.
Grade: B
McLaren
7 of 11
McLaren had a poor 2013—so poor that no one really expected them to be back at the front in 2014.
They got off to a decent start at the opening race, thanks to a couple of retirements ahead. Kevin Magnussen was second in his first-ever race, with team-mate Jenson Button third.
The following races were less successful for the team, and by the midway point, they were down in sixth.
McLaren returned from the summer break in better form, and, aided by Force India's slump, Button led the British team's charge back to fifth in the championship.
But the Australian podiums were the only two of what ended up being another disappointing year for a team used to success. McLaren and new engine partner Honda will certainly hope for better in 2015.
Grade: D
Ferrari
8 of 11
Ferrari finished what was, for them, a disappointing third in 2013. With Felipe Massa out and former world champion Kimi Raikkonen coming in, they were surely aiming higher for 2014.
But the Italian team made a now-common sluggish start to the year. The front-runners of yesteryear found themselves once again heading up the midfield. The chassis wasn't bad; it was the engine holding them back.
Fernando Alonso dragged the car to two podium finishes, but Raikkonen couldn't manage any. Ferrari failed to win a race for the first time since 1993 and ended up a poor fourth in the championship.
Without Alonso, they might have been as low as sixth. Another once-mighty team that had a year to forget.
Grade: D
Williams
9 of 11
Despite winning a race in 2012, Williams had been in the doldrums for years and hadn't finished higher than sixth in the standings since 2007. But with a Mercedes engine and a promising display in winter testing, many expected better in 2014.
They made an inauspicious start to the year, but Valtteri Bottas' pace in the season-opening race had shown what they could do. The breakthrough came with pole in Austria and their first podium for more than two seasons.
From then on, they never looked back.
Williams finished the year with nine podiums and 320 points. This total is all the more impressive when compared to the five they managed in 2013.
Yes, they probably should have won in Austria and didn't always get their strategy calls right. But Williams do not have a front-running budget, and what they achieved in 2014 cannot be considered as anything less than truly remarkable.
Grade: A*
Red Bull
10 of 11
Red Bull went into 2014 as the defending champions for the fourth consecutive year. But with their Renault engine looking weak, they were on the back foot before the season even began.
Daniel Ricciardo's not-too-distant second place at the season-opening race gave them some confidence. Though it was taken away due to a breach of the fuel-flow regulations, it marked out Red Bull as the second-best team—a position they retained for most of the year.
Whenever Mercedes faltered, the Austrian team were there to pick up the pieces. Ricciardo won three races and stood on the podium a further five times. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel, though disappointing, added four more podiums to Red Bull's total.
They ended the year second in the championship, proving how good their chassis was. But F1 is a team sport, and the team includes the engine manufacturer. Together, they fell short.
Red Bull and Renault will hope for better in 2015.
Grade: B
Mercedes
11 of 11
Mercedes were third in the 2013 championship, but with the new regulations for 2014, they were aiming much higher.
From the first winter test, they looked like the team to beat and remained the class of the field all season long, with a performance gap above the rest that often exceeded a second. Despite this gulf, even they slipped up from time to time.
They lost race wins in Canada, Hungary and Spa to a combination of reliability, questionable strategy and poor driving. On other occasions, they lost front-row lockouts and one-two finishes due to technical issues.
But Mercedes won the 16 races and qualified on pole 18 times, so the little mishaps fade to insignificance. It was a display of dominance not seen since McLaren annihilated the field in 1988, and the W05 will go down as one of the greatest cars in F1 history.
Grade: A*
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