F1 2014 Primer: The Teams - MotorSportsTalk

In the penultimate part of MotorSportsTalk’s F1 2014 season preview, we take a look at the teams that will be vying for this year’s world championship. Although there are no new additions, we do have a number of driver changes, plus some interesting changes in suppliers and staff that could make a big difference in 2014.

RED BULL RACING

Having dominated F1 since the middle of 2009, it might come as a shock that Red Bull is no longer the team to beat. If testing is anything to go by, the RB10 car is proving to be troublesome. The only major change at the team is the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo as Mark Webber’s replacement, and he may be better poised to challenge Sebastian Vettel with the new regulations. Don’t write Red Bull off though: the team has a knack for rapid improvement.

MERCEDES

Mercedes was undoubtedly the team to beat during pre-season testing, and has a strong driver pairing in Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Upon re-entering the sport in 2010, the German marque always earmarked 2014 as being its first year of wanting to fight for the title; such a long lead-up and preparation period can only aid the team’s efforts. Ross Brawn’s departure may be felt, but with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe at the helm, Mercedes appears to be in good shape.

SCUDERIA FERRARI

The Italian prancing horse hopes to bounce back in 2014 after a period of regular disappointment. Although there have been race wins and fine efforts from Fernando Alonso, it is still seven years since the team last won the drivers’ championship with Kimi Raikkonen. For 2014 though, the Finn returns after leaving Lotus, creating a mouthwatering driver line-up. In terms of one-lap pace, the team may even challenge Mercedes, and could yet be a force to be reckoned with in F1 this season.

LOTUS

No team has undergone more change than Lotus over the winter. The departures of James Allison, Dirk de Beer, Ciaron Pilbeam, Eric Boullier and Kimi Raikkonen mean that the team enters 2014 far, far weaker than it was twelve months ago. Pastor Maldonado arrives and may provide some financial stability, but after missing one of the three tests, the team is certainly on the back foot, especially with the Renault engine being problematic. Romain Grosjean will hope to lead the team in the post-Raikkonen era.

MCLAREN

Coming off of the back of its worst season since 1980, McLaren is a team in transition. 2014 marks its final year with Mercedes engines before a switch to Honda, but many changes have already been made. Kevin Magnussen comes in to replace Sergio Perez, Ron Dennis returns as CEO and Eric Boullier arrives as Racing Director. The latter has replaced Martin Whitmarsh, of whom we are yet to hear news on. With Jenson Button hungry for a second title, the team could yet bounce back in fashion this year.

FORCE INDIA

Having dumped the rather underwhelming line-up of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg (ever the nearly-man) and Sergio Perez (having left McLaren) arrive at Force India. Powered by Mercedes, the team appears to be well-placed for a strong season, so much so that Bernie Ecclestone has tipped Vijay Mallya’s team to win its first race this year. Hulkenberg and Perez are two exciting prospects, so it could be a big year for all at Force India.

SAUBER

Moving in the opposite direction to Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil arrives at Sauber to partner Esteban Gutierrez as Sauber looks to bounce back from a tough 2013. The financial problems have been resolved, whilst the C33 has ran well during testing. The team may not win races, but it is certainly in better shape than it was at this time last year. With an array of drivers waiting in the wings for seats, the pressure is on Sutil and Gutierrez (2013’s rookie of the year) to perform.

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

Change is afoot at Toro Rosso. Following Daniel Ricciardo’s promotion to Red Bull, 19-year-old Daniil Kvyat was a surprise choice as his replacement, fending off Antonio Felix da Costa and Carlos Sainz Jr. to win the seat. Jean-Eric Vergne will become the team’s most experienced driver ever in 2014, but he knows that time is ticking. The move to Renault engines may have backfired, but in Xevi Pujolar, the team has secured a greatly talented engineer.

WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING

After scoring just five points in 2013, a raft of changes have been made at Williams. Gone are many of the problems that blighted last season, including Pastor Maldonado who accused the team of sabotage in Austin. Felipe Massa’s arrival is a win-win situation for driver and team, whilst engineers Jakob Andreasen and Rob Smedley will be keen to work with Pat Symonds in his first full season. Throw in Valtteri Bottas’ huge potential, Mercedes engines and the newly-announced Martini backing, and the stage is set for a breakthrough year at Williams.

MARUSSIA

Having finally beaten Caterham in 2013, Marussia enters the new season hopeful of a repeat performance, and perhaps some points. Ferrari engines will certainly aid the efforts of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi, whilst the possibility for races of attrition could create a big opportunity for the Anglo-Russian outfit. Relying the race goes ahead as planned, the team will also enjoy its inaugural ‘home’ grand prix at Sochi in October.

CATERHAM

All change at Caterham in 2014 as Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic make way for fan favorite Kamui Kobayashi and GP2’s Marcus Ericsson, with the latter becoming the first Swede to race in F1 since Stefan Johansson in 1991. With a new mint image and a thirst for revenge after being marginally beaten by Marussia last season, 2014 could be a big year for Caterham and everyone at Leafield.

More of MotorSportsTalk’s 2014 F1 season preview
F1 2014 Primer: The Drivers
F1 2014 Primer: The Tracks
5 storylines that could define the 2014 F1 season

Follow @LukeSmithF1

Jett Lawrence remains perfect in the Pro Motocross series after recording another perfect round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California. In his second start on a 450, Lawrence won his second National with his fourth consecutive moto win. It is getting increasingly difficult to find the right superlatives to describe the exploits on the reigning 250 West Supercross champion.

“The track was so brutal out there,” Lawrence told NBC Sports Jason Thomas. “The bike handles amazing even when it’s not too friendly. You had to be really patient; you couldn’t take too much. I didn’t eat enough before that second moto. I kind of lost energy halfway through, but luckily I could use technique and balance and just keep that flow going.”

Lawrence leaves Hangtown with an 18-point advantage over Ferrandis in the 450 Motocross standings, but perhaps more importantly, he climbed to 19th in the SuperMotocross standings and should he stay there, he has an automatic invitation to the Main events in the SMX Championship.

“On this track, you just have to manage,” Lawrence continued. “If you try to take too much and not respect the track, it will bite you very quickly. It was humbling on the first few laps. I got kicked on the cutout at the start of the third section, the tabletop going to the left. I had to get my focus because the boys were coming.”

Still in his first few races since returning from a concussion suffered at Houston in the Supercross series, Dylan Ferrandis finished second with results of third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2. While Ferrandis was happy with the result, he remains hopeful that he will contend for victory shortly.

“The first moto was very hard for my physically, Ferrandis said. “I got arm pump and when you get arm pump your body gets tired. But I’m very happy because we made a big change for the second moto. We tried stuff every session today and in the last moto the bike was much better, but unfortunately I wasn’t sure what I could do with this bike because the track was very hard and difficult to pass.”

RESULTS: How they finished in the 450 Overall at Hangtown

With the rash of injuries at the end of the Supercross season, the podium was filled with heartwarming stories. Cooper Webb returned to action last week in Pala and failed to make the podium. He is steadily improving with a third-place finish in Hangtown. after finishing with a 4-2.

“It’s incredible what seven days can do,” Webb said. “Last week I felt like I was going to get lapped in the second moto. This week, I could see the leader. It was nice. I fought hard, learned how to suffer again there and that felt nice.

Moto 2 wasn’t pretty for Lawrence. On several occasions in the opening laps, he nearly high sided as he rode the front wheel through the ruts. The reward was worth the risk. By the halfway point, Lawrence had 4.5-second lead over Webb, who was embroiled in a tight three-rider battle for second with his teammate Aaron Plessinger pressuring him and Ferrandis ready to take advantage if those made contact.

It took 20 minutes for Plessinger to get around Webb and once he did, he trailed Lawrence by four seconds. But then, with three minutes remaining, Plessinger crashed and had difficulty restarting the bike, handing second back to Webb who has seven seconds behind Lawrence. Plessinger fell to fourth with results of third and sixth.

Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the top five with a 5-4.

Heartbreak for Aaron Plessinger as he was charging forward 💔#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/vQtKIsuhVg

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 4, 2023

Last week Hunter Lawrence won the overall with a 3-1. He repeated that feat in Hangtown in an exact replica of his Fox Raceway results last week. In Moto 1, Lawrence got off to a slow start and lost 10 seconds in the opening laps. Forced to overcome a sixth-place position in the race at the end of Lap 1, he once again caught the riders ahead of him when the field hit heavy traffic. For the second week, scored another 3-1 for the Hangtown National win.

“The start was crucial’ I knew I had to go,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “They laid a lot of water down, so I didn’t want to be behind any longer than [I was]. First hot one of the year, was a bit of a wakeup call, so I’m happy to get out of here safe and healthy.”

Lawrence’s third-place finish in Moto 1 featured a fierce battle for final spot on the podium when he caught Spain’s Guillem Farres and France’s Tom Vialle. With Lawrence hailing from Australia, the international nature of the sport was highlighted.

Lawrence left Hangtown with a 10-point advantage over Haiden Deegan in the Pro Motocross championship battle.

Click here for 250 overall results

Justin Cooper finished second in both motos to finish second overall. Hangtown represented a huge improvement from Fox Raceway where he finished fifth overall with a 5-4 finish in the two motos. Cooper pressured Haiden Deegan in the second half of Moto 1 and he earned the holeshot in the second moto and stayed within three seconds of Lawrence in that race.

“He was following me a little bit, checking out my lines, seeing where he was better,” Cooper said. “It’s disappointing to give up the lead like that but it was way better than last weekend. I will definitely take two seconds. I want to be on the top of the step. I feel like I get close to the top step but I never get it done. That’s building up the frustration – the fire. I really want to get one of these wins, so it’s time to start digging.”

Haiden Deegan earned the first holeshot of his career in Moto 1 and rode away from the field, building a four-second lead in the opening laps. Cooper trimmed the lead at the halfway point and for a while it leveled off at two seconds. Then Cooper made another charge with three to go and closed to within a second. Deegan was biding his time, however.

“I was saving a little. I knew at the end Justin was going to try and put a charge on. I let him get up close and then sent it super hard at the end to break him a little at the end.”

Deegan’s first moto win comes in only his fourth National and he remains perfect in regard to podiums this year.

“This was a dream since I was a little kid, to win,” Deegan said. “And in my fourth race, it’s gnarly. I was just sending it. I was getting a little tired at the end becasue I left my mouth open the whole time. It’s unreal; I’m so hyped. I wanted to win bad and I proved it to you guys.”

Chaos erupted in turn 1 in Moto 2 Jeremy Martin went and another rider ran over his arm. Michael Mosiman crashed further down the track on that same lap. Both riders were helped off course by the Alpinestars Medical team.

Deegan grabs his first 250 Mx moto win!1️⃣#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/1FH5s1ZHfn

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 3, 2023