2014 Formula One World Championship

2014 FIA Formula One
World Championship

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The 2014 Formula One season will be the 65th season of the Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Teams and drivers will contest a record-breaking twenty-one Grands Prix for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' Championships.

In 2014, the championship will see the introduction of a revised engine formula, in which the 2.4 litre V8 engine configuration—previously used between 2006 and 2013—will be replaced with a new formula specifying a 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engine that incorporates an energy recovery system into its build. The 2014 season calendar will undergo substantial revisions, with the addition of three new and returnung races: the Russian Grand Prix will be held for the first time at the Sochi International Street Circuit in Sochi, whilst the Austrian and Mexican Grands Prix will be revived, with the races to be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City respectively. The Indian Grand Prix will be discontinued for one year ahead of a move to an early-season date in 2015.

Signed teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers are scheduled to take part in the 2014 season. However, their participation depends on the teams agreeing to continue competing in the sport under the terms of a new Concorde Agreement.

Team	Constructor	Engine	Race drivers
Caterham F1 Team	Caterham	TBA	Charles Pic
			TBA
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari	Fernando Alonso
			Kimi Räikkönen
Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	Mercedes	Paul di Resta
			TBA
Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	TBA	TBA
			TBA
Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	Ferrari	TBA
			TBA
McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	Mercedes	Sergio Pérez
			TBA
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton
			Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	Renault	Daniel Ricciardo
			Sebastian Vettel
Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	TBA	Sergey Sirotkin
			TBA
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	Renault	Jean-Éric Vergne
			TBA
Williams F1 Team	Williams	Mercedes	TBA
			TBA

Team changes

• In 2011, former British American Racing team principal Craig Pollock announced the formation of Propulsion Universelle et Recuperation d'Energie (commonly known by its acronym, PURE), and signalled his intentions to enter the sport in 2014 as a customer engine supplier, though as of November 2012, the company had no clients for the 2014 season.
• 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 later joined Ferrari's customer programme with Ferrari providing the team with both engine and powertrain for 2014 and beyond.
• Scuderia Toro Rosso secured an agreement with Renault for engines in 2014, ending their seven-year arrangement with Ferrari.
• Williams will part ways with Renault after two seasons, switching to Mercedes power in what the team described as a "long-term deal". The deal came after Renault publicised their intentions to reduce their engine supply to three teams in 2014.

Driver changes

• Felipe Massa will leave Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season after eight years racing for the team. At the time of his announcement, Massa had not secured a drive with another team. Kimi Raikkonen will replace Massa on a one year contract with the option of additional years afterwards.
• Russian teenager Sergey Sirotkin will become the youngest driver to make his Formula One debut when he starts the Australian Grand Prix for Sauber. At 18 years, 201 days old, he will break current record-holder Jaime Alguersuari's mark by 289 days. Sirtokin's seat with the team coincides with Sauber securing financial and technical investment from Russia, but comes on the condition that he earn an FIA Super Licence, a mandatory prerequisite for any driver participating in a Grand Prix weekend.
• Mark Webber will leave Formula One after twelve seasons, the last seven with Red Bull Racing. He will move to the FIA World Endurance Championship, joining Porsche's newly-formed LMP1 team. Daniel Ricciardo will leave 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. Ricciardo was chosen over 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, who also lobbied for the seat, as the team wanted to invest in a young driver the way they had with Sebastian Vettel.

List of planned races

The following twenty-one Grands Prix are currently scheduled to take place in 2014.

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	Australian GP	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne	16 March
2	Malaysian GP	Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur	23 March
3	Chinese GP	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	6 April
4	Korean GP	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	13 April
5	Bahrain GP	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	27 April
6	Spanish GP	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona	11 May
7	Monaco GP	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May
8	Canadian GP	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal	8 June
9	Austrian GP	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	22 June
10	British GP	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	6 July
11	German GP	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	20 July
12	Hungarian GP	Hungaroring, Budapest	27 July
13	Belgian GP	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps	24 August
14	Italian GP	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	7 September
15	Singapore GP	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay	21 September
16	Japanese GP	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	5 October
17	Russian GP	Sochi International Street Circuit, Sochi	19 October
18	Abu Dhabi GP	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	26 October
19	Mexican GP	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	9 November
20	United States GP	Circuit of the Americas, Austin	16 November
21	Brazilian GP	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	30 November
Sources:

Calendar changes

Formula One will travel to Russia for the first time in 2014, with the Russian Grand Prix to be held at a street circuit in the Sochi Olympic Park.

• Red Bull have reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to revive the Austrian Grand Prix after a ten-year absence from the calendar. The race, to be held at the Red Bull Ring, was given a provisional date of June 2014. The Austrian Grand Prix was last held at the circuit in 2003, when it was known as the A1-Ring.
• The Hockenheimring is scheduled to return to the calendar to host the German Grand Prix, in keeping with the event-sharing agreement first established in 2008 with the Nürburgring for the two circuits to host the Grand Prix in alternating years. The Hockenheimring last hosted a Formula One Grand Prix in 2012.
• The Indian Grand Prix will not be held in 2014 after organisers sought to have the event brought forward from its October date to April, but expressed concerns about running two races together in quick succession. The race promoters came to an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone whereby the race will not be held in 2014 and will instead return to the calendar in 2015 with an early-season date.
• The Korean Grand Prix will be brought forward from its October date to April to become the fourth round of the championship, coinciding with the Chinese and Malaysian Grands Prix for logistical reasons.
• The Mexican Grand Prix will return to the calendar after a twenty-two year absence, with the race to be run at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City. The race was partnered with the United States Grand Prix and given a November date. Its inclusion on the calendar came with the condition that work on the circuit be completed in time for the race.
• The calendar will see the addition of the Russian Grand Prix with the race to be held at the Sochi International Street Circuit during the second half of the season. The race will take place on a street circuit to be constructed around the Sochi Olympic Park. It will be the first Russian Grand Prix in a century, and the first time the country has ever hosted a round of the Formula One World Championship. The International Olympic Committee has cautioned that it will use its power to delay the race until 2015 if it feels that construction of the circuit and facilities disrupt preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. In August 2013 it was reported that the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF) had missed a deadline to submit its application to the FIA to host the race in 2014 due to ongoing financial disputes with the race promoters, including over funding for training of track marshals and commercial and intellectual property rights for the event. Despite this RAF indicated that the application could still be lodged successfully under 'force majeure' conditions if the FIA grants permission and if the disputes can be resolved.

Changes

Rule changes

Technical regulations

• The 2014 season will see the introduction of a new engine formula, with the sport moving towards a turbocharged, 1.6 litre V6 format with an 8-speed semi automatic gearbox. The rules dictate the use of a ninety-degree engine bank, with fixed crankshaft axis and mounting points for the chassis, while the engines will be limited to 15,000rpm. Individual engine units under the 2014 specifications must last for at least 4,000 km (2,500 mi) before being replaced, in comparison to the pre-2014 engines, which were required to last for just 2,000 km (1,200 mi).
• The Kinetic Energy Recovery System (known from 2009 to 2013 as KERS, and renamed from 2014 as ERS-K) will be incorporated into the design of the engine and its usage increased; its function as a supplementary power source will be taken by the introduction of the heat-based Energy Recovery System (ERS). The ERS unit captures waste heat as it is dispelled from the exhaust turbocharger, using an electrical device known as a Heat Motor Generator Unit. This waste heat is stored as an electrical charge until it is utilised by a complementary system called the Kinetic Motor Generator Unit. This device is connected directly to the drive train to deliver the additional power in the most direct and efficient way. In combination with the ERS-K it will give drivers an additional 161 bhp (120 kW) for thirty-three seconds per lap, compared to the ERS-K units used prior to 2014, which gave drivers 80 bhp (60 kW) for six seconds per lap.
• Teams will be able to use electronic braking devices to managing the braking of the rear wheels as the increased power output of the ERS-K units will make regulating the brake bias much harder than previously.
• The 2014 regulations require the use of lower noses than in previous years, in the interests of safety. The tip of the nose will have to be no more than 185mm above the ground, in comparison to the 550mm allowed in 2012. These regulations were amended in June 2013 so as to completely outlaw the use of the "stepped noses" used in 2012 and 2013, thereby forcing teams to design a car with a genuinely lower nose rather than using the temporary solution.
  • The original rules—first published in August 2011—also called for a variety of bodywork changes aimed at cutting downforce, most notably through the use of narrower front wings, and a shallower angle to the main plane of rear wings. These additional changes were formally abandoned in December 2012, but the requirement that cars be built with a nose no more than 185mm above the ground was retained.
• In order to promote fuel efficiency, fuel will be flow restricted to 100 kg/h above 10,500rpm; below 10,500rpm a formula for the maximum flow must be applied based on the rpm in use.
• The position of the exhaust outlet will change so that it is now angled upwards toward the rear wing instead of downwards to face the rear diffuser so as to make the practice of using exhaust blown diffusers—passing exhaust gasses over the rear diffuser to improve the car's downforce—extremely difficult to achieve.
• The minimum weight of the cars will increase from 642 kg (1,415 lb) to 690 kg (1,520 lb).
• The use of false camera mountings will be banned. Teams had previously exploited a loophole in the regulations that allowed them to add additional pieces of bodywork to the car in the place of camera mountings and take advantage of the aerodynamic benefits. From 2014, this loophole will be closed, with the regulations rewritten to only allow camera mountings to be used for cameras.

Sporting regulations

• In order to facilitate the introduction of the engine regulations, the FIA proposed rewriting the sporting regulations with regard to winter testing. Under the proposal, winter testing will be brought forward to January to allow for an additional test if it is deemed necessary, with testing venues relocated away from southern Spain to the Middle East—with the Losail circuit in Qatar and the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain being put forward as candidate venues—to minimise the chances of rain interrupting testing.
• The Young Driver Tests, held to allow teams to evaluate potential drivers, will be abandoned in favor of a return of mid-season testing. Four European venues will each host a two-day test in the week following the Grand Prix held at the circuit.
• On 28 June 2013, the teams agreed upon the introduction of a "penalty points" system for driving offences. Under the system, driving offences would carry a pre-determined points value based on their severity that would be tallied up over the course of a season, with a driver receiving a race ban after accumulating twelve penalty points. Any driver who received a race ban would also receive an additional five penalty points upon their return, as a form of probation to discourage further driving offences.
• Drivers will only be able to use five engines over the course of a season in 2014, down from eight in 2013. Drivers who use a sixth engine will start the race from pit lane, as opposed to the ten-place grid penalty handed down for going over the engine quota in previous season. In the event that individual elements of the engine unit—including the turbocharger, ERS unit or KERS battery—are replaced, drivers will incur a ten-place grid penalty.
• Following a series of high-profile incidents involving tyres throughout the 2013 season that culminated in a string of explosive blow-outs at the British Grand Prix, the FIA passed a resolution granting them the power to change the specifications of the tyres used by competitors with immediate effect should the need arise.
• The pit lane speed limit will be reduced from 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) to 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).
• Teams will receive an additional set of tyres for the first practice session at each Grand Prix. The extra set of tyres will only be available for the first thirty minutes of the session, to encourage more running during free practice.