The 2014 F1 driver market as things stand - MotorSportsTalk

The driver market for the 2014 Formula One season has been a hot topic for almost six months now, having been kick-started by Mark Webber’s decision to retire from the sport and move to Porsche’s revived LMP1 programme. Following Lotus’ confirmation of Pastor Maldonado for 2014 on Friday, the final few seats are ready to be filled, meaning that we are close to knowing just who will be on the grid in Australia next March.

RED BULL RACING

Confirmed: Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo was confirmed as Webber’s replacement back in September, stepping up from Toro Rosso.

MERCEDES

Confirmed: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
More of the same for the German marque in 2014 after an impressive year.

SCUDERIA FERRARI

Confirmed: Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen
Raikkonen replaces Massa to create the strongest line-up on the grid next season, but also the most volatile.

LOTUS

Confirmed: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado
Money helped forge Maldonado’s move away from Williams; Grosjean could flourish as team leader.

McLAREN

Confirmed: Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen
Experience meets potential with this line-up, and it will be fascinating to see how Magnussen fares in 2014.

FORCE INDIA

Confirmed: None.
Candidates: Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, James Calado.
Hulkenberg is the obvious choice here, and with di Resta eyeing up a drive in IndyCar, the second seat is between Sutil and Perez.

SAUBER

Confirmed: None.
Candidates: Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Sergey Sirotkin, Adrian Sutil
With questions surrounding Sirotkin’s funding, the return of Perez to form an all-Mexican team with Esteban Gutierrez is perhaps the most likely line-up, although Sutil could seek refuge at Sauber should Force India drop him.

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

Confirmed: Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat.
Kvyat was not the obvious choice, but some impressive displays in practice at Austin and Interlagos proved that he can challenge Vergne despite his lack of experience.

WILLIAMS

Confirmed: Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa
In Massa, Williams has secured a valuable and experienced driver who should compliment the promising Bottas well.

MARUSSIA

Confirmed: Jules Bianchi
Candidates: Max Chilton, Rodolfo Gonzalez
Chilton is likely to be retained after a solid – albeit far from successful – debut season.

CATERHAM

Confirmed: None
Candidates: Giedo van der Garde, Charles Pic, Marcus Ericsson, Heikki Kovalainen, Alexander Rossi
Kovalainen is closing on a seat, but after missing out on P10 in the constructors’, Caterham may have been forced into a rethink. GP2 drivers Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi could be viable options.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports