F1 2015 preview: Advantage Hamilton in dominant Mercedes

FORMULA ONE 2015

MERCEDES + RED BULL + WILLIAMS + FERRARI + MCLAREN + FORCE INDIA + TORO ROSSO + LOTUS + MANOR MARUSSIA + SAUBER

MERCEDES 

	F1 W06 Hybrid	GPs	Pole	Wins
44	Lewis HAMILTON (Gbr)	148	38	33 (2 championships)
6	Nico ROBSERG (Ger)	166	15	8

Dominant Mercedes remain well clear of the field which can only be good news for defending champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton won his second world title in November, six years after his first, and this season is a wonderful opportunity for him to ensure he does not have to wait quite as long between championships again. 
A third crown for Hamilton would put him level with his idol, the late Ayrton Senna - and, having seen off team-mate Nico Rosberg with a brilliant surge of form in the second of last season, the biggest danger to the Stevenage-born champ might just be himself.
After all, Hamilton's off-season has once again been dominated by stories about his personal life, most notably his split with his management team, Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment, and his latest break-up with pop-star Nicole Scherzinger. The last time Hamilton had the potential to be so distracted by external events, in 2011, he suffered his worst season in F1 - and, while the Englishman insists he is a lot more mature now, the door is open for Rosberg to exert pressure. 
Certainly, it feels as if the German needs a good start this year to heal the wounds of giving up such a strong position in the autumn of last year. Indeed, Rosberg's early-season form will surely determine just how competitive the Drivers' Championship actually is.  

RED BULL-RENAULT

	RB11	GPs	Pole	Wins
3	Daniel RICCIARDO (Aus)	69	0	3
26	Daniil KVYAT (Rus)	19	0	0

Coming just a year after joining the team as Sebastian Vettel's second-in-command, Australian Daniel Ricciardo is now the undoubted number one driver at Red Bull Racing. It is a fully merited position for the way Ricciardo thoroughly out-raced four-time world champion Vettel with the German consequently seeking refuge at Ferrari, one year short of completing his contract.
Joining Ricciardo instead is highly-rated 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kvyat who impressed so much in his rookie season with sister team Toro Rosso that he got the big call from Christian Horner. Now, of course, Ricciardo is the hunted, more experienced driver - but, while Vettel seemed quick to find faults when things were not going his way, the Aussie's laid-back personality should stand him in good stead for another season in which any Grand Prix wins will again come against the odds. For Kvyat, the move might have come a little too early - though you never quite know and his record against Ricciardo will provide a source of early-season fascination. 

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES 

	FW37	GPs	Pole	Wins
19	Felipe MASSA (Brz)	212	16	11
77	Valtteri BOTTAS (Fin)	38	0	0

Williams enjoyed their finest season for many a year in the last campaign, deservedly taking third place in the Constructors' Championship ahead of Ferrari and McLaren. 
The Grove-based team finished on a particular high as Felipe Massa - seventh in the Drivers' standings - and Valtteri Bottas - fourth - gave the team a first double podium since Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber finished second and third at Monaco in 2005. As a result, it was no surprise to see this talented partnership retained for 2015.
But one thing that will irk Bottas in particular, given his six podium finishes last season, was the lack of a Grand Prix victory - and so Williams might even be prepared to accept a greater level of inconsistency if their points total happened to feature a first race win since Pastor Maldonado's rather random success in 2012, and only a second since 2004.

FERRARI 

	SF15-T	GPs	Pole	Wins
5	Sebastian VETTEL (Ger)	139	45	39 (4 championships)
7	Kimi RAIKKONEN (Fin)	213	16	20 (1 championship)

Flailing Ferrari have brought four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on board in a bid to restore former glories - but, despite his quadruple between 2010 and 2013, the German himself also needs to fix his reputation somewhat. After all, Vettel only joined the Italian giants for the 2015 season having been shocked to find Daniel Ricciardo not to be quite as acquiescent a team-mate as fellow Australian Mark Webber.
At least Vettel should have the beating of his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen if last year is anything to go by. The Finn's best moments came from his often amusing radio communication with the team as, on the track, he totally failed to live anywhere near up to a reputation mainly built on him being a former Ferrari world champion in his first spell at Maranello.
In fairness to Ferrari, testing has gone better than expected and there has been some much-needed change at the top of the organisation. New president Sergio Marchionne has brought in a new team principal - with Maurizio Arrivabene arriving to replace the sacked Marco Mattiacci. Nevertheless, the team's ambitions are as modest as they ever have been - and the stated target of two race wins hardly inspiring stuff for the Tifosi.

MCLAREN-HONDA 

	MP4-30	GPs	Pole	Wins
14	Fernando ALONSO (Esp)	236	22	32 (2 championships)
22	Jenson BUTTON (Gbr)	268	8	15 (1 championship)
20	Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Den)	19	0	0

Off the pace until at least May, it would be fair to say that last season's woes for McLaren have continued into this year despite (or perhaps because of) a change in engine supplier to Honda. 
Stalwart Jenson Button has even admitted the Woking outfit could be right at the back of the grid for this weekend's season opener in Melbourne if struggling new boys Manor Marussia do not run. Such an outcome would be a shame for the Frome flyer, a well-liked character and the most experienced driver in the paddock, who only just saved his seat in the sport before Christmas after some last ditch negotiating.
Eventually, once McLaren get going, the Briton will be joined by Spaniard Fernando Alonso following his surprise move to reacquaint himself with a team he left under a cloud in 2007. His second debut will not happen just yet, though, as Alonso has been ruled out of the Australian Grand Prix following a high-speed collision in testing. It actually turned into a rather odd incident with conflicting reports over the extent of the injury and, even now, there remain a few unanswered questions.
Genuine mystery also surrounds the reason behind Alonso's return to McLaren, described rather cynically in some quarters as a marriage of convenience. After all, even if the two-time world champion had become frustrated with so regularly outperforming Ferrari, he has effectively swapped one team struggling to live up to its glorious reputation for another currently doing even worse. Alonso and McLaren is definitely a relationship worth watching.

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES 

	VJM08	GPs	Pole	Wins
11	Sergio PEREZ (Mex)	77	0	0
27	Nico HULKENBERG (Ger)	77	1	0

Moored in mid-table since 2008, it is difficult to know what Force India can do to improve their fortunes. They have the strongest engine in Mercedes and a decent driver line-up has been retained - but, while they challenged McLaren for fifth throughout the whole of 2014, two double retirements in Hungary and United States ultimately left the Silverstone-based outfit in sixth place for the third time in four years.
Yet more ups and downs can be expected in the next eight-and-a-half months with the best efforts of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg restricted by an increasingly parlous financial situation. Perez, in particular, is capable of a searing lap which can propel him up the grid, while Hulkenberg was a consistent points scorer throughout the whole of the last campaign, missing out only on four occasions.  

TORO ROSSO-RENAULT 

	STR10	GPs	Pole	Wins
33	Max VERSTAPPEN (Net)	0	0	0
55	Carlos SAINZ Jr (Esp)	0	0	0

Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso have taken their much-vaunted youth policy to extremes this winter with 17-year-old Dutchman Max Verstappen hitting the headlines after becoming the youngest ever Formula One driver. Undoubtedly talented, Verstappen won six successive races in the Formula Three championship on his way to finishing third in the series overall last season.
But, frankly, Formula One is another level of pressure again - and, as BBC writer Andrew Benson points out, the Red Bull talent stream is a cut-throat business with many decent drivers failing to make the grade. Nevertheless, others - such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and, most recently, Daniil Kvyat - have thrived, and Verstappen will be determined to add his name to that still-fledgling list. 
Verstappen's team-mate, Carlos Sainz Jr, was initially overlooked in the Dutchman's favour - and only won a seat when Kvyat was promoted to the main Red Bull team. Such an occurrence was hardly a vote of confidence in the Spaniard who - while being only 20 years old himself - could do with some strong early performances to quieten the hype surrounding his teenage colleague.

LOTUS-MERCEDES 

	E23 Hybrid	GPs	Pole	Wins
8	Romain GROSJEAN (Fra)	64	0	0
13	Pastor MALDONADO (Ven)	77	1	1

Having dropped back from fourth place in the Constructors' Championship in 2012 and 2013 to eighth last year, Lotus should return to a more competitive mid-table placing this time following their switch to Mercedes engines.
It could perhaps be higher than mid-table - but such a result would rely on the most crash-happy pair in F1 cleaning up their act. Actually, that is perhaps not too fair on Romain Grosjean who got much better at keeping his nose out of trouble, especially in the second half of last season. 
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about team-mate Pastor Maldonado who even has a website dedicated to his scrapes. Indeed, in many ways, it was quite refreshing to hear that the Venezuelan had crashed out of the final pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Clearly, the start of the new season was not far away.

MANOR MARUSSIA-FERRARI 

	MR03	GPs	Pole	Wins
28	Will STEVENS (Gbr)	1	0	0
98	Roberto MERHI (Esp)	0	0	0

The fact that the Marussia name lives on at all in Formula One is a testament to the efforts of everyone at Manor Motorsport and others who were not prepared to allow the team to die without a fight. Considering they were only cleared to race earlier this week, doubts remain over whether the two cars will actually make it on the grid in Melbourne.
Moreover, when they do finally compete, it would be amazing if they were not anything but dead last - at least, though, they have made it this far. A baptism of fire awaits Essex lad Will Stevens and his Spanish team-mate Roberto Merhi but the rookies will hopefully be able to gain something out of the experience. If nothing else, the pair will have nothing to lose with Merhi also only actually announced as racing for the team earlier this week.

SAUBER-FERRARI   

	C34	GPs	Pole	Wins
9	Marcus ERICSSON (Swe)	16	0	0
12	Felipe NASR (Brz)	0	0	0

It went right to the wire - but, at the 11th hour, former Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde agreed to drop his legal action against Sauber. All the way through the saga, it had looked as if the opposite might be the case especially after judgements this week from the Victoria Supreme Court in Australia and an appeals hearing found the Dutchman had a case when he said he had been promised a seat at Sauber for 2015.
Nevertheless, van der Garde's decision to move on belatedly gives the team he nearly joined a chance to get on with what is an important campaign. Coming off the back of a dreadful 2014, which saw the Swiss outfit finish with nul points for the first time ever, 2015 can surely only be an improvement.
Coincidentally another former Caterham driver, Marcus Ericsson, and rookie Felipe Nasr have been given the task of restoring Sauber to a place of mid-table respectability. But, even without any further distractions from van der Garde, it looks a tough ask.

2015 RACE CALENDAR
Sky will broadcast all 20 races live on its dedicated channel (Sky 407). Where Sky is listed in the column below, the satellite channel has exclusively live coverage and the BBC will only show extended (delayed) highlights. The BBC has live coverage of 10 races where its name is listed below, notably omitting Monaco in May.

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
15 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix
29 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix
12 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix
19 April	BBC	Bahrain Grand Prix
10 May	Sky	Spanish Grand Prix
24 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix
7 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix
21 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix
5 July	BBC	British Grand Prix
19 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
26 July	BBC	Hungarian Grand Prix
23 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
6 September	Sky	Italian Grand Prix
20 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
27 September	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
11 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
25 October	Sky	United States Grand Prix
1 November	Sky	Mexican Grand Prix
15 November	BBC	Brazilian Grand Prix
29 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

F1 2014 review: Magnificent Mercedes find no equal

MERCEDES - 701 points

01	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	Mercedes	384 (11 wins)
02	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes	317 (5 wins)

Clearly having developed the best car on the grid by a distance following a regulations overhaul, Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg quickly realised the title battle was between themselves.
And what a battle it proved to be - with the prediction of more to come after Monaco one of the easiest to make all year. After all, when there is a world championship on the line, even long-standing friendships will feel the strain and there were various flashpoints across the season.
In Monte Carlo, Hamilton felt Rosberg had denied him the chance to his improve on his best time in qualifying after parking up in Mirabeau. On a street circuit where it is notoriously difficult to overtake, Hamilton duly finished the race in second to his German team-mate.
In Hungary, Hamilton got revenge of sorts - refusing a team order to let Rosberg through - but, by the time the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa had finished later in the summer, Rosberg held a 29-point advantage, with Hamilton having been forced to retire as a result of a clash between the pair.
Then Rosberg seemed to crack - a rudimentary mistake at a chicane in Monza gifted Hamilton the Italian Grand Prix and, thereafter, the Briton stepped it up, winning five consecutive races to stretch his lead from Singapore onwards. Double points at Abu Dhabi kept Rosberg's hopes alive - but, as a result of Hamilton's great start and Rosberg's subsequent mechanical problems the much-anticipated Duel in the Desert never materialised. 

RED BULL-RENAULT - 405 points

03	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	238 (3 wins)
05	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	167

So, Red Bull's RB10 was perhaps not as bad a car as it was made out to be in pre-season. Certainly, the ever-smiling Australian Daniel Ricciardo thought so - as he made good on move up the grid from sister team Toro Rosso in being the only driver not in a Mercedes to win a Grand Prix.
Not only that, he did it three times - in Canada, where he overtook an ailing Rosberg with two laps to go, and then in Hungary and Belgium where he took advantage of Mercedes infighting. Yes, there was perhaps an element of fortune to each of his wins - but five third-place finishes and regular scoring across the season ensured Ricciardo comfortably finished the best of the rest.
Sadly, the same could not be said of defending champion Sebastian Vettel after a difficult season which featured only four podium visits, with none of them coming on the top step. Beaten 12-7 in qualifying by his less experienced team-mate, the four-time champion cut a frustrated figure and, one year short of the end of his contract, ended up moving to Ferrari. An eighth-placed finish at Abu Dhabi was hardly a vintage way to go out from a team in which he had enjoyed record-breaking success - but anything else would have been atypical of his season. 

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES - 320 points

04	Valtteri Bottas (Fin)	Williams-Mercedes	186
07	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Williams-Mercedes	134

Williams-Mercedes enjoyed their best season in years - and appropriately finished on a high with the double podium in Abu Dhabi being their first since Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber finished second and third at Monaco in 2005.
Of course, the Mercedes engines helped - but, in Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, the Grove-based outfit also benefited from two highly-motivated drivers. For Bottas, the motivation presumably stemmed from the fact that he is only in his second season as an F1 driver - and yet, despite his relative inexperience, the Finn has already shown a lot desire to succeed. A mid-season run of four podium finishes out of five between the Grand Prix in Austria and Belgium was the highlight of a campaign in which he regularly carried most threat to the Mercedes pair.
For Massa, meanwhile, the move to Williams was meant to be a liberation from playing second fiddle to Fernando Alonso. Sadly, it did not quite work out like that - and Bottas out-qualified his Brazilian team-mate by 13-6. Nevertheless, Massa also suffered some dreadful luck on race day, being crashed into through no fault of his own on more than one occasion. Thankfully, the second half of the season proved more fruitful than with a second-placed finish in Abu Dhabi and third-placed finishes in Italy and, emotionally, at his home Grand Prix in Brazil.

FERRARI - 216 points

06	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	161
12	Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)	Ferrari	55

Ferrari got it all wrong yet again with the F14 T, producing another bang-average car. Nevertheless, it was the difference in attitude between two former world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen which was more startling.
Alonso has long been the standard-bearer for the Italian giants and, once again this season, strived to do as well as he could in an almost impossible position. Visits to the podium in China and Hungary were phenomenal drives - and, altogether, the Spaniard still recorded 14 top-six finishes to earn sixth place in the overall standings. Ninth at Abu Dhabi is not how Alonso would have wanted to go out - but it really comes as no surprise that, after years of title-less trying, he has moved to pastures new.
Räikkönen, by contrast, has been retained despite being out-qualified by Alonso by 16-3 and driving around as if he has already taken an early retirement. Generally saving his best moments for his often hilarious communication with his team over the radio, his fourth place in Spa was a complete an anomaly in terms of his performance on the track. For, while he retired just once all season, in Silverstone, the Flying Finn finished outside of the points on no fewer than five occasions. 

MCLAREN-MERCEDES - 181 points

08	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	126
11	*Kevin Magnussen (Den)	McLaren-Mercedes	55

Oh dear. There can be few false dawns as bright as the one McLaren produced at the Australian Grand Prix eight months ago. 
With the disqualification of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, Danish debutant Kevin Magnussen was deemed to have finished second - the best finish by a rookie on debut since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. Meanwhile, Jenson Button was also promoted to the podium in third - and, ever so briefly, it looked as if the Woking-based team might be the one likely to provide the closest challenge to the dominant Mercedes.
In the long run, though, the MP4-29 proved no better than the MP4-28 as McLaren chalked up consecutive fifth-placed finishes on what could sadly be Button's swansong. Yet, despite the doubts over his position for next year, the Frome flyer was absolutely key even to them achieving this modest target as he earned himself a creditable eighth place in the overall standings having had 12 other points finishes after Melbourne.
Indeed, the Briton's form in the last couple of months - two fourth places and two fifth in the last five races - was good enough to lift McLaren above Force India in an unexpected mid-table tussle. And, as he admitted himself, the fifth in Abu Dhabi was pretty much as good as it was going to get.
For Magnussen, the season unsurprisingly got no better than the second place in Australia as he finished with less than half the points of his vastly more experienced team-mate. Nevertheless, among the usual rookie errors, there were flashes of talent. He matched Button in qualifying - and secured a fifth-placed finish in Russia among his 12 points-based finishes altogether.

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES - 155 points

09	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	96
10	Sergio Pérez (Mex)	Force India-Mercedes	59

Force India will keep faith in Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Pérez after both drivers scored consistently enough across the season to keep this solidly mid-table team solidly in mid-table. In fact, this is the third season in the last four that Force India have finished sixth in the Constructors' Championship - and, even then, the exceptional year was a seventh-placed finish.
Referring solely to 2014, the undoubted highlight was Pérez's podium visit in Bahrain - only the team's second ever top-three finish - but, in the final reckoning, it was actually team-mate Hulkenberg who could boast the better overall stats.
The German finished the season with more points, more points finishes, and a qualifying record which was 12-7 in his favour. Indeed, he started the season with 10 consecutive points finishes and only missed out on four occasions, twice through retirement.
Ultimately, thanks mainly to Jenson Button's late-season form for McLaren, the efforts of Hulkenberg, in particular, and Pérez were not quite good enough to cause a surprise and break Force India into that top five. But they were not too far away either - and, in fact, held the position above McLaren as late as mid-October.

TORO ROSSO-RENAULT - 30 points

13	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	22
15	*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	8

Russian rookie Daniil Kyvat provided some early-season excitement by finishing in the points positions in three of the opening four Grand Prix - but, in the end, it was his slightly more experienced team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne who picked up more points across the season. 
For, while Kyvat would only feature in the top 10 twice more from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, Vergne enjoyed seven points-based finishes across the campaign including a sixth place under the lights in Singapore.
Still, perhaps as a result of him out-qualifying Vergne by 12-7, Kyvat has ended up being the ultimate victor in this tussle, the Russian having been fast-tracked to support Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso's big brother Red Bull. Vergne today announced he will no longer race for Toro Rosso so it remains to be seen who will partner 17-year-old rookie Max Verstappen next year.

LOTUS-RENAULT - 10 points

14	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	8
16	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Lotus-Renault	2

For Lotus, who finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship in 2013, the season had gone into a stall before it had even properly begun. In pre-season testing, their car ran fewer laps than any other - and at the opening race in Australia, it showed. 
Both cars qualified behind Marussia and Caterham with Pastor Maldonado not even able to set a time and Romain Grosjean was then forced to start from the pit-lane due to making car modifications under parc ferme conditions. Finally, in the race itself, the two cars retired within a lap of one another with the same power unit problem.
It did get slightly better - Grosjean finished eighth in consecutive races in Spain and Monaco, while crash-happy Maldonado eventually stayed out of trouble at antepenultimate race in the United States to finish ninth. But these were the only points finishes of the season - and, with cash-strapped Lotus retaining the same driver line-up for 2015, all hope is being pinned on the acquisition of a Mercedes engine. 

MARUSSIA-FERRARI - 2 points

17	Jules Bianchi (Fra)	Marussia-Ferrari	2
21	Max Chilton (Gbr)	Marussia-Ferrari	0

From glory to despair via still possibly tragic circumstances, Marussia have endured a bizarrely notorious season for a back-marker, failing to make it to end before going out of business. 
The highlight came at Monaco where Frenchman Jules Bianchi finished ninth to earn the team their first ever points at their 83rd attempt and his 25th. It was a deserved outcome for Bianchi who had regularly finished further up the classification than he ought to - his future looked bright, even if the same could not be said of Marussia.
Then, in Japan, in extremely wet conditions, Bianchi suffered a horrific crash head-first into a crane rescuing the stricken Sauber of Adrian Sutil. It was a reminder of just how dangerous Formula One can be, even with the great advances in safety since the death of Ayrton Senna 20 years ago. Yet, as the paddock admirably rallied together, the Bianchi accident also demonstrated just how much this sport means to the drivers that they willingly continue to subject themselves to such possible outcomes. Bianchi remains unconscious and in a critical condition - and, for what little it is worth, this report still hopes for the best.
Team-mate Max Chilton only competed in one more race, retiring from the Russian Grand Prix on lap nine with a suspension problem. It was a rare retirement for the Briton - but, having been out-qualified 12-3 by Bianchi, the youngster from Reigate has just as rarely shown the raw pace of his team-mate. The demise of Marussia leaves him without a seat in 2015.

SAUBER-FERRARI - 0 points

18	Adrian Sutil (Ger)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
20	Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	0

Sauber-Ferrari suffered their worst ever season in 22 years of involvement in Formula One, failing to score across a whole campaign for the first time ever. 
Kept off the bottom only thanks to Adrian Sutil's two 11th-placed finishes in Australia and Hungary, this was as good as it got for a usually solidly mid-table team.
Mexican team-mate Esteban Gutiérrez could only manage a best of 13th - once at Suzuka in Japan - and so it is no surprise to see Swiss owner Peter Sauber bring in a whole new line-up for 2015 with former Caterham driver Marcus Ericsson being joined by Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr.

CATERHAM-RENAULT - 0 points

19	*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Caterham-Renault	0
23	*Will Stevens (Gbr)	Caterham-Renault	0

Caterham-Renault were the only team to use more than two drivers across the season - and, just as none of their choices scored any points at all, the whole team effectively stumbled over the finish line in Abu Dhabi.
Forced into administration after the Russian Grand Prix with the loss of 230 jobs, Caterham missed two Grand Prix altogether in United States and Brazil. They then only made it to the season-closer in the United Arab Emirates thanks to an effective crowd-sourcing campaign.
For the record, Caterham's best finish was 11th from Swedish rookie Marcus Ericsson in Monaco while Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi managed two 13th-placed finishes in Malaysia and Monaco again.
British youngster Will Stevens was 17th and last to finish on his Grand Prix debut in Abu Dhabi (replacing Ericsson) - but now the hard work for Caterham really begins as they seek some secure backing to salvage their position on the grid.

FORMULA ONE 2014 REPORTS
14.03 Season preview: Ripe for renewal
29.05 More to come from Mercedes pair
07.07 Hamilton shines at Silverstone
22.09 Hamilton leads the way under the Singapore lights
24.11 Hamilton reaches another level

F1 2014: Hamilton reaches another level

LEWIS HAMILTON secured a second world title with an 11th win of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday.

Hamilton qualified second behind Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg - but made perhaps the best start of his whole career to lead going into the first corner.

It was so good it looked almost as if he had been thrown out of a slingshot and, thanks to regulation pit stops on laps 10 and 31, this was ultimately a pretty straightforward victory.

Coming fully six years after his last world title, Hamilton maybe feared this day would never arrive.

After all, only three previous Britons - Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart - had gone onto to become multiple world champions, Scotsman Stewart most recently back in 1971.

But Hamilton has now changed all of that on the "greatest day of [his] life".

The 29-year-old added: "2008 was a great year in my life. The feeling I have now is way, way past that. The greatest feeling ever."

For, let there be no doubt, this was a deserved triumph. For the record, Hamilton's 11 wins came in Malaysia, Bahrain, China, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Russia, the United States, and finally Abu Dhabi.

This was more than twice as many as Rosberg, and thankfully the horrible spectre of double points in Abu Dhabi did not prove decisive.

Instead, Rosberg suffered a series of mechanical failures yesterday to limp home down in 14th.

Still, at least, he was granted the opportunity to finish the race by a team preparing to retire him with just two laps to go.

And, after a title rivalry which had been quite tetchy at times this year, Rosberg was extremely sporting in his concession.

"I'm very disappointed but all in all Lewis deserved to win the championship. That's clear," the German said. "All in all he just did a better job than me, especially in the races."

Yes, for Rosberg, this was perhaps a slight case of what might have been. He out-qualified Hamilton 12 times to seven, and led the Championship by 29 points on two occasions.

But, for the most part, Hamilton acted more decisively in the Grand Prix themselves - and, in a blistering run of form, won six out of the last seven including five in a row.

In the only exception, he finished second in Brazil - and so dropped just seven points from his retirement in Spa onwards.

With the performance of a true champion, Hamilton has at last achieved what his talent had threatened for so long.

He has become only the 16th driver to become a multiple world champion - he has joined the pantheon of Formula One greats.

FORMULA ONE 2014

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix	Rosberg	Räikkönen	Rosberg
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Massa	Ricciardo
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix	Massa	Perez	Rosberg
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Hamilton
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Rosberg
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Ricciardo
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Ricciardo
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Hamilton
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Bottas	Hamilton
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix	Rosberg	Vettel	Hamilton
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Rosberg
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Rosberg	Ricciardo	Hamilton

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	Mercedes	384 (11 wins)
02	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes	317 (5 wins)
03	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	238 (3 wins)
04	Valtteri Bottas (Fin)	Williams-Mercedes	186
05	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	167
06	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	161
07	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Williams-Mercedes	134
08	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	126
09	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	96
10	Sergio Pérez (Mex)	Force India-Mercedes	59
11	*Kevin Magnussen (Den)	McLaren-Mercedes	55
12	Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)	Ferrari	55
13	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	22
14	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	8
15	*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	8
16	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Lotus-Renault	2
17	Jules Bianchi (Fra)	Marussia-Ferrari	2
18	Adrian Sutil (Ger)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
19	*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)	Caterham-Renault	0
20	Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
21	Max Chilton (Gbr)	Marussia-Ferrari	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Caterham-Renault	0
23	*Will Stevens (Gbr)	Caterham-Renault	0

*= Debut season in F1

Constructors' Championship

P	Team	Points
01	Mercedes	701 (16 wins)
02	Red Bull-Renault	405 (3 wins)
03	Williams-Mercedes	320
04	Ferrari	216
05	McLaren-Mercedes	181
06	Force India-Mercedes	155
07	Toro Rosso-Renault	30
08	Lotus-Renault	10
09	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

F1 2014: Hamilton leads the way under the Singapore lights

LEWIS HAMILTON regained the lead in the Drivers' Championship yesterday after his seventh win of the season came in the night race in Singapore.

Championship rival Nico Rosberg was forced to start from the pit lane with an electronics problem before the same issue led to his retirement after 14 laps.

And Hamilton's unanswered 25-point haul means he now leads his Mercedes team-mate by three points heading into the last five races.

That represents quite a turnaround for Hamilton who was as many as 29 points behind Rosberg after the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa just four weeks ago.

There, the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg, which had been threatening to erupt all season, finally came to the boil as the pair collided at Les Combes.

A poor start by pole-sitter Rosberg had given Hamilton the lead by the first corner - but, on the second lap, Rosberg was able to close back up and tried to overtake Hamilton on the outside.

The move did not come off and, as Hamilton turned into the left-handed part of the chicane, his left rear tyre was caught and punctured by Rosberg's front wing.

Damage to the wing cost Rosberg any chance of victory - but he was still able to battle back up to the second place behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton, meanwhile, was forced to retire for a third time this year.

By contrast, Rosberg - up until this weekend - had only retired once, in Silverstone, and so the luck at least appears to have now started to even itself out.

Still, though, the season is not fully reflected in the points totals. For, while Hamilton has seven race wins, Rosberg has only four and yet it remains almost neck-and-neck.

But, rather than dumb luck, the issue appears to be with the points system and the differential between first and second place.

Currently 25 and 18 points respectively, finishing runner-up in a Grand Prix is worth 72% of the total points that the winner receives.

While favourable in comparison with the system used between 2003 and 2009 when the scores were 10 and eight, the use of 10 and six points between 1991 and 2002 best rewarded race wins.

In a campaign dominated by two men, this differential has become even more relevant especially as Rosberg has finished second on five occasions when Hamilton has won the race and the opposite has only happened twice.

Yes, it is important that consistency is rewarded - but, given that the top 10 all score, this would not be negated even if the value of a Grand Prix victory was increased back to where it once was.

It would not be difficult to implement either. The 15 points currently awarded for third place is 60% of the 25 points for a win - ie. the equivalent of six and 10 - and so should be used for second place instead.

Twelve points should go to third instead of fourth, 10 points to fourth instead of fifth and so on until the last four point-scorers are awarded four, three, two and one - rather than six, four, two and one.

If the above plan was implemented, Hamilton would be leading Rosberg by 229 points to 215 - still not a particularly big lead but one which is more reflective of the season as a whole.

Instead, the FIA stubbornly stands by its decision to keep the championship open until the last race in Abu Dhabi where double points will be awarded.

Of course, leaving the championship undecided until the season finale will add excitement to the proceedings.

But it is impossible to get rid of the feeling that the climax is a manufactured gimmick in a panicked response to the dominance in recent years of Sebastian Vettel.

One thing is for sure - the German will not be retaining his title for a fifth consecutive time this year.

Nevertheless, the absence of a competitive Rosberg in Singapore meant compatriot Vettel made it onto the podium in his Red Bull for only the third time this season.

That compares poorly to his team-mate Ricciardo who finished third yesterday for his seventh top-three placing, including three race wins.

And that third place was enough to keep the Aussie comfortably clear of the pack as the best of the rest behind Hamilton and Rosberg.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is fourth in the standings, having finished fourth in Singapore, ahead of Vettel and Williams' impressive Finn Valtteri Bottas who failed to score for just the second time all season.

In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes still have a 174-point lead over Red Bull and could win that title at the next race in Suzuka on 5 October.

Williams remain ahead of Ferrari in third place - though the gap down to nine points - and, in another tight battle, Force India are fifth ahead of McLaren by just six points.

Meanwhile, right at the back of the grid, Marussia are steadfastly holding onto ninth place ahead of the pointless Sauber and Caterham, thanks to Jules Bianchi's glorious two points at Monaco.

Where next then? Well, a week after Suzuka, F1 visits the Winter Olympic resort of Sochi in Russia for the first time before a three-week gap ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

The Texan circuit is the first part of another double-header, the second of which is in Sao Paulo in Brazil - before what will surely be a decider in the United Arab Emirates.

After all, even with the momentum now firmly behind the Englishman, surely neither Hamilton nor Rosberg will be more than 50 points clear by then.

As Hamilton admits himself, it really is still all to play for.

FORMULA ONE 2014

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix	Rosberg	Räikkönen	Rosberg
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Massa	Ricciardo
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix	Massa	Perez	Rosberg
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Hamilton
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Rosberg
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Ricciardo
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Ricciardo
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	Mercedes	241 (7 wins)
02	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes	238 (4 wins)
03	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	181 (3 win)
04	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	133
05	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	124
06	Valtteri Bottas (Fin)	Williams-Mercedes	122
07	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	72
08	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	72
09	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Williams-Mercedes	65
10	Sergio Pérez (Mex)	Force India-Mercedes	45
11	Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)	Ferrari	45
12	*Kevin Magnussen (Den)	McLaren-Mercedes	39
13	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	19
14	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	8
15	*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	8
16	Jules Bianchi (Fra)	Marussia-Ferrari	2
17	Adrian Sutil (Ger)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
18	*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)	Caterham-Renault	0
19	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Lotus-Renault	0
20	Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
21	Max Chilton (Gbr)	Marussia-Ferrari	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Caterham-Renault	0

*= Debut season in F1

Constructors' Championship

P	Team	Points
01	Mercedes	479 (11 wins)
02	Red Bull-Renault	305 (3 wins)
03	Williams-Mercedes	187
04	Ferrari	178
05	Force India-Mercedes	117
06	McLaren-Mercedes	111
07	Toro Rosso-Renault	27
08	Lotus-Renault	8
09	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

F1 2014: Hamilton shines at Silverstone

LEWIS HAMILTON won an entertaining British Grand Prix at Silverstone to close the gap on Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to four points in the title race.

The big action at the Northamptonshire circuit started almost immediately with a first Formula One red flag in 14 years on an opening lap after former world champion Kimi Räikkönen crashed into a barrier.

Räikkönen, rejoining the race having gone wide at Aintree corner, span wildly off the grass and right across the track, catching the unlucky Felipe Massa on the way.

And there then followed a delay of an hour as the damaged guardrail was hastily repaired.

For the record, Räikkönen himself has suffered bruised ankles from the 150mph shunt and is a doubt for the German Grand Prix in two weeks.

But the lack of series injuries suffered to him or any of the other drivers is once again testament to the fine progress made over the years by the authorities to make the sport much safer.

Once the action resumed, so did the title fight, as Hamilton - who qualified a disappointing sixth - swiftly passed McLaren pair Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button to move behind leader Rosberg.

Not for the first time this season, the 2008 world champion then lost time to his German team-mate in the pits - but fortune finally favoured the Briton on lap 29 when Rosberg retired with a gearbox problem.

It was Rosberg's first retirement of 2014 - in fact, his first for 25 races - and it denied the capacity Silverstone crowd what looked set to be a fascinating head-to-head.

Nevertheless, Hamilton's dominant position earned him big cheers from most of the 120,000 spectators, and there was still plenty of exciting action to follow from the stands.

Williams' Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas provided much of it, moving up from 14th on the grid to a career-best second place.

Meanwhile Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo also finished on the podium and thus continues to outperform his more decorated team-mate, four-time defending champ Sebastian Vettel.

Fourth place went to Button, an encouraging result for the 34-year-old Frome flyer in his previously struggling McLaren. It did mean, though, that he missed out on a podium at Silverstone for the 15th time.

Vettel, on fresher tyres, beat Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to fifth after a great tussle throughout the latter stages of the race, which provided the true definition of wheel-to-wheel racing. It really was first class stuff.

The other points positions went to Magnussen in seventh, Nico Hulkenberg in eighth, Russian youngster Daniil Kyvat in ninth, and Jean-Eric Vergne in 10th.

The title race, then, remains a two-horse race with Rosberg (165points) narrowly ahead of Hamilton (161), and Ricciardo (98) placed as the best of the rest.

Alonso is fourth on 87 points ahead of the impressive Bottas (73), who moved ahead of Vettel this weekend.

A hugely important weekend, it has been too - with Hamilton able to put behind his recent disappointments to get back in the thick of the title battle.

It also provided some Great British cheer after a pretty miserable sporting summer so far. England's footballers, of course, flopped out of the first round of the World Cup and the rugby union side were whitewashed by the All Blacks in New Zealand.

The cricketers were shocked at home by Sri Lanka, and this week Andy Murray provided a limp defence of his hard-earned Wimbledon crown.

Even the first stage of the Tour de France this weekend had brought bad news as Manxman Mark Cavendish crashed out of the whole race in the closing sprint.

But, as unlikely as it seemed on Sunday morning, Hamilton has restored a smile to the face of British sport - for now.

And, as Hamilton freely admits himself, he is ready to go into "attack mode".

Particularly sweet would be if he could follow up this win with another in the next Grand Prix. It is held in Hockenheim - Rosberg's home circuit - on 20 July.

FORMULA ONE 2014

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix	Rosberg	Räikkönen	Rosberg
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix	Rosberg	Massa	Ricciardo
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix	Massa	Perez	Rosberg
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Rosberg	Hamilton	Hamilton
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes	165 (3 wins)
02	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	Mercedes	161 (5 wins)
03	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	98 (1 win)
04	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	87
05	Valtteri Bottas (Fin)	Williams-Mercedes	73
06	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	70
07	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	63
08	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	55
09	*Kevin Magnussen (Den)	McLaren-Mercedes	35
10	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Williams-Mercedes	30
11	Sergio Pérez (Mex)	Force India-Mercedes	28
12	Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)	Ferrari	19
13	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	9
14	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	8
15	*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	6
16	Jules Bianchi (Fra)	Marussia-Ferrari	2
17	Adrian Sutil (Ger)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
18	*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)	Caterham-Renault	0
19	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Lotus-Renault	0
20	Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
21	Max Chilton (Gbr)	Marussia-Ferrari	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Caterham-Renault	0

*= Debut season in F1

Constructors' Championship

P	Team	Points
01	Mercedes	326 (8 wins)
02	Red Bull-Renault	168 (1 win)
03	Ferrari	106
04	Williams-Mercedes	103
05	Force India-Mercedes	91
06	McLaren-Mercedes	90
07	Toro Rosso-Renault	15
08	Lotus-Renault	8
09	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

F1 2014: More to come from Mercedes pair

MERCEDES boss Niki Lauda moved to heal a growing rift between his two drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg following a tetchy Monaco Grand Prix.

Rosberg won in Monte Carlo for the second year in a row to overtake Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship - but the weekend was punctuated by several events which frustrated the Briton.

First, in qualifying, Hamilton was prevented from a run on pole after Rosberg caused yellow flags to be waved by parking at Mirabeau.

It didn't look intentional - replays showed Rosberg locking up and struggling with the steering wheel - but it was understandable why Hamilton took a dim view of the incident and remained tight-lipped in a seriously awkward interview afterwards.

After all, pole position is everything at Monaco.

Since 2004, only one driver has won having failed to take pole - and that driver was Hamilton in 2008 in his only victory at F1's most glamorous venue.

Could he do it again? Well, ultimately, no he couldn't - but he felt he was even denied a fair chance in the race after Mercedes failed to bring him into pit when it was obvious a safety car was going to be needed to clear up Adrian Sutil's accident.

Hamilton said: "An opportunity occurred where I could have come in. When I was at McLaren, l would have been pulled in on that lap and that may have given me the smallest advantage to get the jump over the safety car."

It may be a moot point anyway. Having trailed his team-mate for most of the race by less than a second, Hamilton ultimately finished a distant in a second place after suffering a problem with his vision when a piece of debris became lodged in his eye.

Nevertheless, the wounds from the weekend will take longer to clear up.

Hamilton even went as far as to say he and Rosberg were "not friends" despite him having shared a close competitive relationship with the German since they were both teenagers.

Yes, it is not quite on the level of a Prost-Senna dispute just yet - but it is providing fascinating viewing in a season which has already effectively become all about Mercedes.

The F1 W05 is so superior to all of the rest of the cars on the grid that it has taken every pole and won every race.

Indeed, the Mercedes team is currently enjoying a streak of five successive 1-2s, which is something that was not even achieved by either the dominant McLaren MP4/4 in 1988 or Williams FW14B in 1992.

In the standings, Rosberg (122) leads Hamilton by four points despite two fewer race wins after the Briton had to retire from the season opener in Australia due to engine trouble.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso cuts a frustrated figure again in third on 61 points which is as many points as he is adrift from the lead.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo, in fourth on 54 points, is comfortably outperforming his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time defending champion sits sixth on 45 points, two behind Force India's Nico Hülkenberg - while Valtteri Bottas is an impressive seventh for Williams ahead of the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

Further down the grid, the big news in Monaco came from Marussia who finally scored their first points in a Grand Prix at the 83rd attempt thanks to Jules Bianchi's ninth place.

"Yes!!!!!!!!!!" was the reaction on the official Marussia feed on Twitter - and few would begrudge them their success after an agonising four-year wait.

F1 2014 now moves on to Montreal in Canada on 8 June before a first Austrian Grand Prix in 11 years on 22 June.

Then, in July, Hamilton and Rosberg will enjoy home advantage in successive races at Silverstone and Hockenheim.

Only time will tell if they are genuinely friends or just colleagues in a battle which already looks like going all of the way.

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix	Rosberg	Räikkönen	Rosberg
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes	122 (2 wins)
02	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	Mercedes	118 (4 wins)
03	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	61
04	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	54
05	Nico Hülkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	47
06	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	45
07	Valtteri Bottas (Fin)	Williams-Mercedes	34
08	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	31
09	*Kevin Magnussen (Den)	McLaren-Mercedes	21
10	Sergio Perez (Mex)	Force India-Mercedes	20
11	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Williams-Mercedes	18
12	Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)	Ferrari	17
13	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	8
14	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	4
15	*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)	Toro-Rosso-Renault	4
16	Jules Bianchi (Fra)	Marussia-Ferrari	2
17	*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)	Caterham-Renault	0
18	Adrian Sutil (Ger)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
19	Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	0
20	Max Chilton (Gbr)	Marussia-Ferrari	0
21	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Lotus-Renault	0

*= Debut season in F1

Constructors' Championship

P	Team	Points
01	Mercedes	240 (6 wins)
02	Red Bull-Renault	99
03	Ferrari	78
04	Force India-Mercedes	67
05	McLaren-Mercedes	52
06	Williams-Mercedes	52
07	Lotus-Renault	8
08	Toro Rosso-Renault	8
09	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

F1 2014: Ripe for renewal

LEWIS HAMILTON is being hotly tipped to win a second world title as Formula One receives a much-needed shot in the arm from a whole raft of technological changes.

Hamilton's team Mercedes has appeared to adapt better than its rivals to the new regulations - and the Briton thus has high hopes that the German outfit can supply him with a car good enough to land a second Championship, six years after his first.

Of course, much of the intervening period has seen Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team utterly dominate the sport.

The German won a fourth successive Drivers' Championship - and it was ultimately his most clear-cut success yet as he racked up nine consecutive race wins, a record for a single season.

But, sadly for F1 in 2013 - which had actually begun brightly with several different winners - the repetitive Vettel victories in the second half of the season eventually became an exercise in tedium.

The streak could even be said to have been aided and abetted by rival teams, some of whom openly admitted they had already shifted their focus to 2014.

At least Vettel will find it more difficult this year - indeed, it could be a real struggle if Red Bull's form in winter testing is anything to go by.

The champions hit a new low in the second spell of Bahrain testing where Vettel failed even to complete a single lap.

But the irony of the situation is that, if the German can still get some big results in a bang average car, he may actually enhance his overall reputation.

One driver who knows plenty about that sort of thing is Fernando Alonso.

For some years now, the Spaniard has outperformed a Ferrari team which has finished third in the Constructors' Championship for three of the last four years.

With so many changes going into 2014, the Italians simply must see this as a chance to win back that title for the first time since 2008 - and the Drivers' Championship for the first time since 2007.

That title, seven years ago, was won by the 'Ice Man' Kimi Räikkönen and, following a couple of years rallying and a couple more at Lotus, the Finn is back at Ferrari.

His arrival provides us with a fascinating in-house rivalry but it could, of course, work against both drivers.

After all, sooner rather than later, one of the two drivers will need to be favoured, although it is not just at Ferrari where this is an issue.

At Mercedes too, Hamilton will receive plenty of competition from his German team-mate Nico Rosberg, and the team may have also dropped a clanger in bizarrely parting ways with phenomenal technician Ross Brawn.

The situation at McLaren is rather clearer. Ron Dennis is firmly back in charge and Jenson Button is the Woking-based team's obvious number one, lining up alongside Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen.

The Frome Flyer really must use his position to is advantage - although he can only hope McLaren provides a better car than last season's unprecedented disaster.

Williams also struggled last year, as it has for some years now. However, with a Mercedes engine and the best livery (pictured) on the grid thanks to sponsorship from Martini, the Oxfordshire team wants to show it will not just be a pretty face.

Felipe Massa arrives from Ferrari, a good match with both team and driver seemingly in need of a pick up.

How apt it would be if the Brazilian Massa could deliver it with a race win, 20 years on from the ill-timed loss of his compatriot Ayrton Senna - who met his tragic end in a Williams, of course.

Certainly, Williams can look forward to this season with great optimism and an expectation that it can leapfrog the trio of respectable mid-table bunch - Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso.

Even the Lotus, fourth in the Constructors' race last year, is eminently catchable after a truly dire winter in which the E22 somehow completed fewer laps than the new Red Bull.

Added to that, Lotus has opted for the curious strategy of retaining Romain Grosjean (though he  improved last year) and pairing him with another crash-happy driver, Pastor Maldonado.

Yes, Lotus could be the team to watch in 2014 - but only for all of the wrong reasons.

Finally, there come the stragglers. For, although the sport this year is expected to bring a whirlwind of change, the backmarkers will feature familiar names and faces.

Caterham, who finished bottom last year, fields Kamui Kobayashi and Swedish debutant Marcus Ericsson, both of whom have owner Tony Fernandes' threat to quit F1 ringing in their ears.

But, at least, there is more hope at Marussia, which - with Ferrari engines - may raise a challenge to Toro Rosso.

This is good news, of course, for the third Briton on the grid, Max Chilton, who became the only driver to finish every race of his rookie season last year

However, the 22-year-old from Reigate will need to get much closer to his French team-mate Jules Bianchi for 2014 to be considered a success.

Frankly though, at this stage, who knows what is going to happen between now and the final race in Abu Dhabi where the horribly-gimmicky double points will be awarded.

At least that will probably mean the title goes to the wire - but only after the best season in years for thrills and spills anyway.

The campaign begins in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Qualifying will be held at 6am GMT on Saturday with the race starting 24 hours later.

ON THE GRID

RED BULL-RENAULT

1	Sebastian Vettel (GER)	GPs 120	Pole 45	Wins 39
3	Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)	GPs 50	Pole 0	Wins 0

MERCEDES

6	Nico Rosberg (GER)	GPs 147	Pole 4	Wins 3
44	Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	GPs 129	Pole 31	Wins 22

FERRARI

7	Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)	GPs 194	Pole 16	Wins 20
14	Fernando Alonso (ESP)	GPs 217	Pole 22	Wins 32

LOTUS-RENAULT

8	Romain Grosjean (FRA)	GPs 45	Pole 0	Wins 0
13	Pastor Maldonado (VEN)	GPs 58	Pole 1	Wins 1

MCLAREN-MERCEDES

20	Kevin Magnussen (DEN)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0
22	Jenson Button (GBR)	GPs 249	Pole 8	Wins 15

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES

11	Sergio Pérez (MEX)	GPs 58	Pole 0	Wins 0
27	Nico Hülkenberg (GER)	GPs 58	Pole 1	Wins 0

SAUBER-FERRARI

21	Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0
99	Adrian Sutil (GER)	GPs109	Pole 0	Wins 0

TORO ROSSO-RENAULT

25	Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA)	GPs 39	Pole 0	Wins 0
26	Daniil Kvyat (RUS)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES

19	Felipe Massa (BRZ)	GPs 193	Pole 15	Wins 11
77	Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0

MARUSSIA-FERRARI

4	Max Chilton (GBR)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0
17	Jules Bianchi (FRA)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0

CATERHAM-RENAULT

9	Marcus Ericsson (SWE)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0
10	Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)	GPs 60	Pole 0	Wins 0

2014 RACE CALENDAR

As with the last two seasons, Sky will broadcast every race on their dedicated channel (Sky 408). Where Sky is listed in the column below, the satellite channel will have exclusively live coverage and the BBC will only show extended (delayed) highlights. The BBC has live coverage of nine races where its name is listed below, notably omitting Monaco in May.

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix