In the nineteen Grands Prix of the season, a total of eleven teams and twenty-four drivers competed for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championships. The season was the first Formula One season since 1994 to see an accident with fatal consequences as Jules Bianchi died on 17 July 2015 after spending nine months in a coma following a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
In 2014, the championship saw the introduction of a revised engine formula, in which the 2.4-litre V8 engine configuration—previously used between 2006 and 2013—was replaced with a new formula specifying a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine that incorporated an energy recovery system into its build. The 2014 calendar featured substantial revisions from the 2013 season; the Russian Grand Prix was held at the Sochi Autodrom, and the Austrian Grand Prix was revived with the race held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. The Indian Grand Prix was put on hiatus before being removed from the schedule entirely along with the Korean Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel started the season as defending World Drivers' Champion having secured his fourth consecutive Drivers' title the previous season at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix. His team, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, also started the season as defending World Constructors' Champions having secured its fourth consecutive Constructors' title last season at the same Grand Prix in which its lead driver secured his title.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won his second World Drivers' Championship - his first for Mercedes, having previously won his first title in 2008 with McLaren and becoming only the second driver to win the title for the Silver Arrows since Juan Manuel Fangio did so in 1955. Nico Rosberg won the inaugural FIA Pole Trophy having amassed a total of 11 pole positions over the course of the season. Mercedes secured their first World Constructors' Championship as a full works constructor in Russia, and finished the season with 701 points, 296 points ahead of Infiniti Red Bull Racing. The season also saw the first three wins of Daniel Ricciardo, who finished third in the championship for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Meanwhile, Ricciardo's teammate and defending champion Vettel endured a winless season making the German driver the first defending champion since Jacques Villeneuve in 1998 to have this unwanted distinction and last to date, as of 2025.
The following teams and drivers took part in the 2014 season. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
This was the final season for Max Chilton, Jean-Éric Vergne, Kamui Kobayashi, Adrian Sutil, and Jules Bianchi, the latter of whom had a test driver contract for 2015, but suffered an accident leading to fatal injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
Cosworth elected not to build an engine to fit the 2014 generation of regulations. This decision prompted Marussia, the only team using Cosworth engines during the 2013 season, to seek out a new engine supplier. They joined Ferrari's customer programme with Ferrari providing the team with both engine and powertrain for 2014 and beyond.
Toro Rosso secured an agreement with Renault for engines in 2014, ending their seven-year arrangement with Ferrari.
Williams parted ways with Renault after two seasons, switching to Mercedes power in what the team described as a "long-term deal".
2008 runner-up Felipe Massa left Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season after eight years racing for the team. He moved to Williams, alongside Valtteri Bottas. Pastor Maldonado, having been replaced at Williams by Massa, moved to Lotus F1, taking the seat vacated by 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen. Räikkönen returned to Ferrari, the team he raced for from 2007 to 2009. The partnership of Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso marked the first time since 1954 that Ferrari contested a season with two World Drivers' Champions in the team.
Mark Webber retired from Formula One after twelve seasons, the last seven with Red Bull Racing. Daniel Ricciardo left Scuderia Toro Rosso to fill his seat, becoming the second driver to graduate from the team's young driver programme to their premier racing team. Toro Rosso chose 2013 GP3 Series champion Daniil Kvyat as Ricciardo's replacement.
Sergio Pérez left McLaren after a single season with the team. He was replaced by 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion and McLaren Young Driver Programme member Kevin Magnussen. Pérez moved to Force India, where he was joined by Nico Hülkenberg, who returned to the team after one year with Sauber. Adrian Sutil went on to secure Hülkenberg's vacant seat at Sauber.
Kamui Kobayashi returned to Formula One with Caterham, after spending the 2013 season competing in the World Endurance Championship. He was partnered with GP2 Series regular Marcus Ericsson.
Susie Wolff joined Williams as a test and reserve driver. On 3 October 2014, Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to participate in a Formula One Grand Prix weekend (17 years, 3 days), driving in FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix, deputising in place of Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
In the week leading up to the British Grand Prix, the Caterham F1 Team announced that team owner Tony Fernandes had sold his controlling stake to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors. Christijan Albers was appointed as team principal, with the team declaring its intentions to continue competing under the Caterham name. Albers was himself replaced by Manfredi Ravetto, who was in turn replaced by Finbarr O'Connell.
André Lotterer made his Formula One debut with Caterham, replacing Kamui Kobayashi at the Belgian Grand Prix. Kobayashi returned to the team for the Italian Grand Prix.
Alexander Rossi was entered for the Belgian Grand Prix by Marussia as a replacement for Max Chilton. Rossi was later nominated as Jules Bianchi's replacement for the Russian Grand Prix, but the entry was ultimately withdrawn out of respect for the critically injured Bianchi.
Jules Bianchi suffered a serious head injury in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, remaining hospitalised and in a coma until his death in July 2015. Marussia decided to withdraw their second entry for the Russian Grand Prix, Alexander Rossi, out of respect for the Frenchman.
The 2014 calendar saw the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix with the race staged at the Sochi Autodrom. The Hockenheimring returned to the calendar to host the German Grand Prix, in keeping with the event-sharing agreement first established in 2008 with the Nürburgring.
The 2014 season saw the introduction of a new engine formula, with turbocharged engines returning to the sport for the first time since 1988. The new engines were a 1.6-litre V6 format with an 8-speed semi-automatic gearbox. The traditional 2.4 litres naturally-aspirated V8 engines that were used since 2006 until 2013 were permanently retired.
Lower noses returned for the first time since the 2010 season. The 2014 regulations required the use of lower noses than in previous years, in the interests of driver safety. The planned reduction in front wing width from 1,800 mm to 1,650 mm was subsequently reintroduced.
Mid-season testing returned in 2014. The penalty system was overhauled in 2014 so as to improve driving standards, with the introduction of a "penalty points" system for driving offences. Drivers were assigned permanent numbers for the duration of their careers, with the championship adopting a system similar to the one used in MotoGP.
Mercedes won their first World Constructors' Championship after taking a 1–2 finish in Russia. Lewis Hamilton won his second World Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle with teammate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg won the Australian and Monaco Grands Prix, and Hamilton the races in Malaysia, Bahrain, China and Spain.
Red Bull Racing finished second overall, after suffering a difficult start to the season when Sebastian Vettel retired and Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix. Ricciardo took advantage of the Mercedes team's difficulties in Canada to claim his maiden Grand Prix victory.
Williams were third, having started the season strongly when Valtteri Bottas scored more points in the opening race than the Williams team did during the 2013 season. Bottas scored the first podium of his career, crossing the finish line in third place at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Ferrari finished fourth, with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen scoring a mixed run of results throughout the season. It was the first time since 1993 that Ferrari failed to win a race in a season.
McLaren secured fifth place. Force India were classified sixth overall. Scuderia Toro Rosso were seventh overall, with Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat becoming the youngest driver to score points in Formula One, having finished ninth in Australia.
Lotus finished the season in eighth position. Marussia were classified ninth, owing to Jules Bianchi scoring points in Monaco as he finished the race in ninth place. Sauber and Caterham finished tenth and eleventh overall, with both teams having failed to score a point in 2014.
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