A 2015 F1 Season Preview (of sorts)

Anyone who watched last night's F1 Show on Sky Sports may have noticed an oddly familiar face lurking in the studio audience behind Simon Lazenby, Natalie Pinkham and co. That's because I was fortunate enough to attend the first recording of the new series at the Sky Studios in Brentford alongside my good friend Dougie Wilson, as evidenced by the below picture (I'm to the left of the fellow in the Lotus top, for the avoidance of doubt):

I should confess at this stage that I am in fact not a regular F1 Show viewer - I would describe it as perfectly decent, but hardly essential viewing for the motor racing fan, particularly later in the year when there are fewer obvious topics for discussion and when there is a tendency to rely more heavily on special guests and rather esoteric feature pieces.

But, being the first show of the year, there was happily much to discuss on this occasion, ranging from which teams shone in winter testing to the mystery surrounding Fernando Alonso's enforced lay-off from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a week's time and the recent resurrection of the Manor (née Marussia) squad. More on all that later, though.

For a regular viewer of Sky's F1 coverage, watching on as the presenters did their thing was something of a surreal experience, similar to that of watching Grand Prix cars in the flesh for the first time. It's a reminder that, for all the glitz and glamour of the F1 paddock, those fronting the coverage are really just ordinary human beings like you or I.

Not only that, but they are genuinely pleasant people, perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of their work. Lazenby and Pinkham, along with the affable Johnny Herbert, made a real effort to interact with the audience both before and after the show, as well as during the ad breaks and VTs, making the whole business of standing up for an hour in a television studio a strangely enjoyable experience.

Indeed, after the show, I got to have a brief chat with Pinkham - I asked who her favourite drivers to interview were; Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Jenson Button were the three names I got in return. When I asked whether there were any she was less keen on speaking to, she said there weren't, and that extracting a response from the famously laconic Kimi Raikkonen was a fun challenge!

Regrettably, the picture I had taken with her has to rank among the worst there's ever been of me - eyes shut, mouth agog and double chin in full view. A similar fate befell me when I bumped into Martin Brundle in the Monza pitlane last September, so perhaps I have some sort of allergy to Sky Sports presenters.

Moving swiftly on, Alonso's testing crash and its aftermath have understandably dominated the motor racing headlines in recent days. Though next weekend's curtain-raiser will be all the poorer without the Spaniard making his hotly anticipated McLaren-Honda bow, missing the race is unquestionably the right course of action, given the well documented risks associated with sustaining a second concussion so soon after the first.

That said, I still can't help but get the feeling that there's something amiss about the whole saga. Question marks remain over whether Alonso was indeed conscious at the time of his impact with the barriers at the Circuit de Catalunya, and it's not hard to see why McLaren would be keen to ensure Honda is spared the mortifying embarrassment of having to admit fault for the accident that has benched the team's multi-million dollar star signing.

Either way, McLaren's handling of the situation has been poor, much like its protracted dithering over finalising its 2015 drivers over the winter, with the Woking outfit seemingly contradicting their own press statements regarding Alonso's condition. Here's hoping that the FIA's investigation into the incident is able to shed some light where McLaren is seemingly unwilling to.

There's a certain irony in the fact that the team will be running the same line-up in Melbourne as last year, as Kevin Magnussen fills the breach alongside Button. For the Dane, it's an invaluable chance to show McLaren what they will be missing this season, assuming Alonso returns for Malaysia as expected, and perhaps to showcase himself to other potential suitors for 2016, given that Alonso and Button are both under contract for next season.

The other big story of the past couple of weeks has been the revival of the Manor team, a rare piece of good news that ensures that there will be 20, rather than just 18, cars on the grid in Australia. The man F1 fans have to thank for this is energy mogul and self-confessed petrolhead Stephen Fitzpatrick, who has reportedly invested £30m into the team known last year as Marussia to get the operation back on its feet.

The team's chief executive Graeme Lowdon - a true racer if ever there was one - and its only confirmed driver as of the time of writing, Will Stevens, were both present at the F1 Show recording, and I managed to share a word with the latter after the show. At least the picture I had with him wasn't quite as repulsive as my snap with Pinkham.

Stevens has spent the last three seasons in Formula Renault 3.5, in which his record would be best described as solid rather than spectacular, but proved on his one-off appearance for Caterham last year at Abu Dhabi that he's a perfectly competent operator behind the wheel of an F1 car. Asked how he found the transition from FR3.5, he remarked that the step up in power was the main difference, and that the cornering speeds were similar given the Caterham's woeful aerodynamic package.

The 23-year-old wouldn't be drawn on the identity of his Manor team-mate, although one name I mooted to him was former GP2 champion Fabio Leimer, who had been due to race in the Japanese-based Super Formula this season before splitting with his team yesterday. Stevens, who admitted that 2015 is likely to be largely a learning year, struck me as quite an intense and single-minded character, traits that will serve him well in the F1 paddock.

While Manor is likely to languish at the bottom of this year's constructors' table, running a modified version of last year's Marussia to begin with, winter testing suggests that Mercedes will almost certainly be the runaway victor once more this season. Nico Rosberg's best time at Catalunya was three tenths quicker than the nearest non-Mercedes, Bottas, despite being set on soft compound tyres and not the faster super-soft compound like the Williams driver.

That means fans are most probably in for another head-to-head battle between defending champion Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg as far as the drivers' crown is concerned. At 4/6, the Brit begins the season as heavy favourite to take a third title, but Sky Deutschland's Tanja Bauer advised the F1 Show audience not to write off the hopes of Rosberg, who, as she pointed out, should be stronger now with the experience of a title battle under his belt.

Testing suggests that the teams most likely to begin the year as best of the rest are Williams and Ferrari, whose James Allison-penned contender already looks to be a major step forward. Sebastian Vettel seems at home with his new employers, having regained his trademark boyish charm that he lacked during a subdued 2014, while Raikkonen, who struggled badly last year with a car lacking in front-end grip, also appears happier with his mount and will no doubt be eager to silence his critics.

Red Bull meanwhile still seem to be lagging somewhat, in no small part because of the travails of engine supplier Renault, but it should be remembered that Red Bull still bagged a (later disallowed) second-place finish following a dismal winter this time a year ago. What's more, Adrian Newey may no longer be involved with the Milton Keynes-based team on a day-to-day basis, but the RB11 still bears his hallmarks, and the design guru will doubtless have a bearing on its development.

Some pundits reckon there's plenty of potential locked away inside the aggressive Peter Prodromou-influenced McLaren, but it will be up to Honda to catch up with its rivals if the chassis' latent speed is to be realised. Winter testing will have come as a major wake-up call for a team that was talking up its chances of challenging Mercedes for Grand Prix wins off the bat, as well as a sober reminder that this is a long-term project and that both constructor and engine supplier will need to be patient.

As for the rest, the new Mercedes-powered Lotus looks solid, and should be a regular points contender, while the respective offerings from Toro Rosso and Sauber also both appear stronger than their predecessors. The team that could struggle most initially is Force India, which, owing to financial problems, only managed to complete two-and-a-half days of running with its 2015 car over the winter, but its Mercedes powerplant should help to mitigate their competitive slide to a degree.

Bearing in mind all of the above, here are my predictions for the top 10 in Melbourne, as well as for this year's championship:

Melbourne predictions: 1. Hamilton, 2. Rosberg, 3. Bottas, 4. Vettel, 5. Ricciardo, 6. Massa, 7. Raikkonen, 8. Grosjean, 9. Kvyat, 10. Verstappen

Season predictions: 1. Hamilton, 2. Rosberg, 3. Ricciardo, 4. Vettel, 5. Bottas, 6. Raikkonen, 7. Alonso, 8. Massa, 9. Kvyat, 10. Grosjean

As much as I would like to think that this season will prove at least as competitive as last year's titanic tussle between the Mercedes duo, I suspect Hamilton may just be too strong for Rosberg this year, especially if he is able to improve the qualifying form that appeared to desert him at times last season.

Ricciardo's undoubted class allied to an improving Red Bull will be enough for the Aussie to overhaul Vettel for third place, while Williams will lose ground towards the end of the year, limiting Bottas to fifth ahead of compatriot Raikkonen, who will be closer to his team-mate's pace than he was last year.

After a slow start to the year, Alonso will gradually work his way up to seventh in the final standings, with a couple of podium finishes to his credit, pipping Massa and Kvyat. Grosjean will round out the top 10 just ahead of Button, the Brit finding the task of matching his fellow McLaren driver tougher than expected.

Concluding thoughts on the 2014 season

They say that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but, looking back, it seems obvious that 2014 was always going to be the year of the Silver Arrows. It may only have been last winter when the rumours materialised that Mercedes had stolen a march on fellow engine manufacturers Ferrari and Renault, but in reality the German marque's advantage was sealed a long time before that.

The introduction of a new generation of turbocharged hybrid power-units represented an opportunity for Mercedes, one that they had spotted long before anybody else. Under the stewardship of Ross Brawn, preparations for F1's new era were being made even before the new rules were announced, the team's technical department bolstered by the arrival of Bob Bell (who has since jumped ship to Ferrari), Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis in 2011.

Niki Lauda was brought on board the following year to lend the squad some political clout, helping to secure the team a better deal in Concorde Agreement negotiations and playing an instrumental role in convincing Lewis Hamilton to desert McLaren in favour of the three-pointed star. Paddy Lowe was the final piece of the puzzle, slotting alongside Toto Wolff as one of two 'executive directors' and effectively replacing Brawn, who was unable to continue in a role he found acceptable.

Combined with the vast resources at Mercedes' disposal - which dwarf those of the sport's other top teams when the headcount and budget of the High Performance Powertrains facility at Brixworth is taken into account - the inevitable result was a power-unit that was easily the class of the field, complemented by an equally capable chassis that was able to fully utilise its potency. What was more surprising than Mercedes' dominance was the way that its rivals dropped the ball.

From the outset, it was clear that the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB10 was unlikely to carry Sebastian Vettel to a fifth consecutive title, but what wasn't so apparent was the extent to which Daniel Ricciardo would blossom in the environs of Milton Keynes following his two-year apprenticeship at Toro Rosso. Indeed, so accomplished were the Australian's performances - culminating in three victories, the only ones of the year that slipped through Mercedes' fingers - that he was acclaimed by many, including this writer, as the driver of the year.

Vettel's struggles to adapt to the new generation of car were seized upon by his critics as evidence that he isn't the driver his superlative record suggests. Being beaten by Ricciardo two years on the trot was simply not an option for the German, which was what led to him jumping ship to Ferrari to replace the McLaren-bound Fernando Alonso, safe in the knowledge that failure will likely be blamed upon the team rather than the driver. In any case, his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen is unlikely to pose a great threat on the evidence of this year.

Like his compatriot Michael Schumacher before him, Vettel has the opportunity to mould the Scuderia around him, his arrival at Maranello co-inciding with a major upheaval within the team. Forming a close relationship with James Allison, whose grip over the technical department has been solidified by the departure of Pat Fry and Nicholas Tombazis, and Maurizio Arrivabene, the team's third team principal in nine months, will be key to future success for the four-time champion.

For a team that used to pride itself upon its engine-building prowess, 2014 was an embarrassment for Ferrari, the result being that long-time president Luca di Montezemelo finally fell on his sword. With Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne now at the helm, the team must be patient and allow its new personnel to gel. It took Jean Todt four years to turn Ferrari into a championship-contending team in the 1990s, and a similar waiting period could well lie ahead under the new regime.

McLaren meanwhile may have had the choice power-unit, but for the second year in succession, the chassis produced by Woking wasn't up to the job. Alonso's gamble therefore is two-fold - not only will the Spaniard be praying for Honda's power-units to be of similar quality to their late 1980s offerings, but also that McLaren will rediscover how to construct a world-beating chassis. It's certainly not for want of resources or brainpower that the team has fallen short in that department.

Ron Dennis' return at the start of the year, with Eric Boullier drafted as his main lieutenant, promised to rectify the situation, with the return of Peter Prodromou from Red Bull aimed at bolstering a technical department that had leaked several big names to rival teams in recent years. But, if the way McLaren dithered over its choice to partner Jenson Button with Alonso is reflective of the speed that other key decisions are reached, it's doesn't bode well for a swift return to competitiveness.

Indeed, it appears that the two 'grandee' teams have been eclipsed by the leaner, more efficient operations of Red Bull and Brawn/Mercedes since the sport's previous major regulation change in 2009. Further evidence of this is the way that both McLaren and Ferrari were outflanked this year by Williams, who bounced back in spectacular style from their dismal 2013 with the help of Mercedes engines, Martini sponsorship, and the arrival of Felipe Massa alongside rising star Valtteri Bottas.

Third place in the constructors' standings is a remarkable achievement any way you cut it, but it says a lot about how quickly the team have progressed that Williams can feel aggrieved at not being closer to runner-up Red Bull. The FW36, the first to bear Pat Symonds' influence, was often the second-quickest car, but numerous points were squandered through simple operational and strategic errors of the sort the team's better-heeled rivals tend not to make.

While Williams' revival was one of the feel-good stories of the year, the battle between Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will be how the season is primarily remembered. An additional layer of intrigue to proceedings was provided by the duo's pre-existing friendship, which was stretched to the limit at Monaco after two fierce but ultimately good-natured wheel-to-wheel battles at Bahrain and Spain, both of which were won by Hamilton.

Rosberg's treachery or luck, depending on your viewpoint, at Monaco effectively brought down the curtain on the first 'act' of the season, in which Hamilton had the upper hand. The Brit could seemingly do nothing right for the next few races, only taking one (somewhat fortuitous) win at Silverstone during a mid-season purple patch for Rosberg. That came to an end in Belgium as the Mercedes pair made contact at Les Combes, which, in retrospect, was where Rosberg lost the title.

While he left Spa with an extra 18 points in his pocket over Hamilton, the ensuing recriminations within the team appeared to severely dent Rosberg's confidence, leading to his critical errors at Monza and Sochi as well as his lapse in the heat of battle at Austin. This handed the impetus back to Lewis, who is at his brilliant best in the role of the hunter rather than the hunted, Nico's fate sealed even without those costly car failures at Singapore and at the double-points Abu Dhabi finale.

The paddock must have sighed a collective breath of relief after the latter event, as the sport avoided the massive PR own-goal that would have been Rosberg taking the title on double points. The German himself surely would not have wanted that particular asterisk to taint his success in any case - far better to come back stronger next year now that the rule has thankfully been consigned to the scrapheap, along with the frankly ludicrous proposal to introduce standing restarts at the end of every safety car period.

That was just one talking point in one of the most politically eventful seasons in recent memory. At the centre of much of the controversy was, as ever, Bernie Ecclestone - from his criticism of the sound of the new power-units at the start of the year to the questionable way his Bavarian court case was resolved; from cosying up to Vladimir Putin at Sochi to claiming that the sport doesn't need to worry about attracting young fans, the 84-year-old was rarely out of the headlines all year.

All of that made it a rather surprising revelation when Ecclestone accepted blame for F1's financial problems - a perfect storm of ever-rising costs and an extremely inequitable distribution of the sport's income. This admission came after the two smallest outfits, Caterham and Marussia, both went into administration, finally buckling under the immense strain of competing at the highest level with so few resources. The latter had even managed to score two points at Monaco thanks to the exploits of Jules Bianchi, whose tragic accident at Suzuka left a black mark against the entire season.

The result was that only 18 cars took to the starting grid at Austin, the lowest number since early 2005. While the diminished field did little to undermine the spectacle, it meant that Sauber, who along with fellow cash-strapped outfits Force India and Lotus threatened to boycott the race, found itself at the very rear of the grid. While losing two relatively new and unsuccessful teams could be described as a shame rather than a disaster, shedding a team with a race-winning pedigree would be inexcusable for a sport that generates almost $2bn annually.

A cost cap was mooted by FIA President Jean Todt at the start of the year, but lacked the crucial support of Ecclestone and the top teams, and when Caterham and Marussia disappeared (the former successfully crowd-funding what is likely to prove a one-off return at Abu Dhabi), the spectre of the biggest teams fielding third cars loomed - the answer to a question that virtually nobody was asking, least of all the teams who would be hard-pressed to score any points at all if they were introduced.

When this suggestion was put to bed by Todt, the debate shifted to the wisdom of introducing such complex and costly new engines at a time when many teams were already struggling financially, and it's now thought that Bernie is pushing for a return to a simpler, cheaper and louder formula for 2016. This would inevitably put him on a collision course with Mercedes, who will argue that the true intention of such a change of direction is to prevent the Silver Arrows dominating for years to come.

The fact of the matter is however that, for all of the complaining and behind-the-scenes politicking, the new regulations have proved a hit, providing excellent racing at all but a small handful of Grands Prix, even if one team has done a much better job than anybody else. The question F1 must ask itself is whether such excellence should be penalised in the name of 'the show' - and if the answer is yes, there are surely more transparent ways of doing so than messing with what has so far proven a successful formula and risk driving out one of the sport's most prestigious names.

Even if the regulations could be amended in a way that Mercedes found acceptable in the name of cost reduction, it wouldn't address the fundamental problem that the top teams receive such exorbitant sums from the commercial rights holder. With the bigger operations understandably unwilling to shell out on shoring up the minnows, and the governing body powerless to overrule the will of the majority, the onus is on the CRH to sacrifice a small portion of its immediate profits in the interest of the sport - or risk that its precious cash cow stops producing milk altogether.

While F1 threatened to tear itself apart, other forms of motorsport quietly made steady progress in 2014. The World Endurance Championship went from strength to strength, with returnee Porsche winning the final race of a season that largely belonged to Toyota. Securing both the drivers' and manufacturers' crowns courtesy of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi, the only prize the Japanese auto giant missed out on was the big one: victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Instead, Audi scooped a 13th triumph at the French endurance classic, on virtue of reliability rather than outright pace, but enjoyed little success elsewhere - and the competition is only going to get tougher in 2015 as Nissan makes it a four-way fight in the top division. Rumours of the Ingolstadt marque throwing its hat into the F1 ring were rife in the autumn; the tougher the going gets in the WEC, the more attractive a proposal that could seem, particularly if Porsche takes over as the VW-Audi Group's standard-bearer at Le Mans.

Interest in the WEC was boosted by Porsche's return, its driver line-up spearheaded by F1 convert Mark Webber. Next year, Nico Hulkenberg will race for the team at Le Mans alongside his Force India commitments, and it will be fascinating to see how many other Grand Prix regulars attempt a similar balancing act in years to come. Alonso, who conspicuously visited the WEC paddock at Bahrain, has made little attempt to disguise his desire to race at Le Mans in the not-too-distant future, a move that would surely send interest in endurance racing through the roof.

Across the pond, IndyCar was bolstered by the return of Juan Pablo Montoya after a largely fruitless seven-year spell in NASCAR, but it was the Colombian's Penske team-mates Will Power and Helio Castroneves who were the main stars of the show - the former taking an overdue maiden title and the latter narrowly missing out on a fourth Indy 500 victory to Ryan Hunter-Reay in a thrilling climax. The introduction of aero kits next year to differentiate the spec Dallara cars that make up the field is the series' next step on its long and arduous road to recovery.

NASCAR meanwhile courted controversy with the introduction of an all-new Chase for the Cup format, which sought to place a greater emphasis on winning races. How ironic it was, then, that Ryan Newman, who failed to win all year, came perilously close to making a mockery of the entire season at the Homestead finale - luckily, the rightful champion by any metric, Kevin Harvick, was not to be denied that day. While not universally popular, the revamped Chase certainly injected some vigour into a series that has been struggling to captivate a new audience in recent years.

Speaking of new audiences, Formula E enjoyed an auspicious start at Beijing, where a last-lap, last-corner clash between Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld ensured that the all-electric championship's first race made the headlines the next day. The two subsequent rounds may not have been as dramatic, but it seems the championship has done as well as could be hoped in capturing the imagination of the public. Whether it can become a genuine rival to F1 in the future is another question altogether, though.

Indeed, for all of its ongoing political strife, F1 remains the focal point of motorsport, boasting as it does the world's best known drivers and teams - which is precisely the point of those contentious bonus payments to the biggest outfits. What Ecclestone and his paymasters seemingly fail to grasp is that the mid-size and smaller concerns are equally crucial to the sport's health, a lesson they may end up learning the hard way if 2015 doesn't herald a radical change of direction.

My Top 50 Drivers of 2014

Regular readers of this blog will likely be aware that I produce a list of my top 10 Formula One drivers at the end of each season, but this year I have opted to do things a little differently.

As well as providing an authoritative take on the top 10 drivers of the F1 season, AUTOSPORT magazine also offers a list of the 50 best drivers across all of motorsport at the end of each year - my own version of which can be seen below.

The list incorporates drivers from F1, rallying, endurance racing, touring cars, US Racing and the junior formulae, taking into account not only the drivers' performances but also the quality of machinery at their disposal and the stiffness of the opposition they encountered in their particular championship.

For those wanting to know my F1 top ten, fear not - they can all be found below among their lesser-celebrated counterparts from elsewhere in motorsport. I have deliberately chosen not to include Jules Bianchi, who remains in a serious condition in hospital as of the time of writing, but suffice it to say that the young Frenchman definitely would have featured had he completed the season.

50. Joao Paulo de Oliveira (BR, 2nd in Super Formula)

The Japanese-based Super Formula series is one of the best kept secrets in motorsport, and Brazil's de Oliveira has been one of its leading protagonists for some years now. He finished runner-up to Kazuki Nakajima in this year's standings with three victories to his name, although it could have been a very different story had he not spun away a commanding lead in difficult conditions at Fuji.

49. Robert Wickens (CDN, 12th in DTM)
Wickens' third DTM campaign wasn't particularly impressive on paper, but the stats belie the fact that the Canadian was often the quickest of the Mercedes contingent, something that his poles at the Norisring and the Red Bull Ring stand testament to. He won at the former, and would have also triumphed at the latter without his rather contentious disqualification for an unsafe pitstop release.

48. Pierre Gasly (F, 2nd in Formula Renault 3.5)
Although he failed to win a race in his maiden year in Formula Renault 3.5, Red Bull junior Gasly proved a remarkably consistent performer, making no less than eight trips to the podium across the year. That he was considered a contender for the Toro Rosso seat alongside Max Verstappen despite his inexperience shows the high regard in which the young Frenchman is held by his paymasters.

47. Nico Hulkenberg (D, 9th in F1)
Unfortunate to miss out on a Ferrari drive to Kimi Raikkonen last year, it would be fair to say that Hulkenberg's stock has dipped slightly following a season best described as solid but unspectacular. At his best early in the year, scoring in all but four races was a laudable achievement by the German, but there were days when his lesser heralded team-mate Sergio Perez held a decisive edge over him.

46. Ryan Hunter-Reay (US, 6th in IndyCar and Indy 500 winner)

2014 was hardly the strongest campaign ever strung together by Hunter-Reay, but no-one else besides series champion Will Power could match his tally of three wins. But, while his victories at Barber and Iowa were impressive, it was the way he that he held off the challenge of Helio Castroneves to join the illustrious ranks of Indy 500 winners that earns the American a place on this list.

45. Kris Meeke (GB, 7th in World Rally)
Signing Meeke to a full-time works drive was undoubtedly a risk on Citroen's part, and the Ulsterman certainly suffered more accidents than he or his employers would have liked. But he was often the only non-Volkswagen driver to trouble the German cars on pure pace, his points tally failing to do justice to the way he outshone team-mate Mads Ostberg in the latter half of the year.

44. Colin Turkington (GB, British Touring Car Champion)
He may have had the best car, but Turkington used his West Surrey Racing BMW to devastating effect, with double wins at Oulton Park, Croft and Rockingham helping to propel him to a thoroughly deserved second BTCC title. It would be fascinating to see how the 32-year-old would fare against tougher opposition overseas if WSR are unable to hang on to him for 2015.

43. Romain Grosjean (F, 14th in F1)
After getting used to standing on the podium regularly late last season, Lotus's fall from grace must have been a bitter pill for Grosjean to swallow. Despite letting his frustration get the better of him on occasion, the Frenchman deserves credit for the way he dominated team-mate Pastor Maldonado, his performance at Barcelona, where he qualified fifth and finished eighth, standing out in particular.

42. Alex Lynn (GB, GP3 Champion)
While his predecessor as GP3 champion, fellow Red Bull youngster Daniil Kvyat, came on strong towards the end of the year after a limp start to secure last year's crown, Lynn was imperious early on before fading somewhat as the season progressed. Perhaps that explains why the Brit was passed up for a Toro Rosso F1 seat, but 2014 remains a season that Lynn can look back on with satisfaction.

41. Gianmaria Bruni (I, World Endurance GTE Pro Champion)

A stellar performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was the bedrock of another consistent campaign by Bruni, who has established himself as one of the world's leading GT drivers with his exploits behind the wheel of the factory Ferrari 458. Four WEC wins and as many poles for the Italian and his co-driver Toni Vilander was a record no other driver pairing in the class could touch.

40. Dean Stoneman (GB, 2nd in GP3)
It might seem odd to place him two places higher than series champion Lynn, but the way Stoneman performed in the closing stages of the year once he switched to the Koiranen GP team served to take some of the sheen off his compatriot's achievements. The fact the 23-year-old was fighting testicular cancer only two years ago makes his feats all the more impressive.

39. Scott McLaughlin (NZ, 5th in V8 Supercars)
In only his second year of V8 Supercars competition, McLaughlin has firmly marked himself out as the category's next superstar with his searing pace in the all-new Garry Rogers-run Volvo contender. Four wins, including a double at Phillip Island, is pretty good going by any standards, but it was in qualifying where the young Kiwi really shone, taking no fewer than 10 pole positions.

38. Oliver Rowland (GB, 4th in Formula Renault 3.5)
His title assault may have been stymied by technical gremlins of various kinds during the year, but there was no denying Rowland's obvious class in his first season of Formula Renault 3.5. Two dominant victories at Aragon and Jerez stand as the main evidence of this, while three pole positions also helped to identify the RSF-backed driver as a potential star of the future.

37. Kazuki Nakajima (J, 8th in World Endurance and Super Formula Champion)

Nakajima's third year in the Toyota WEC stable was his strongest yet, the Japanese taking the #7 car to poles at Silverstone and Le Mans and making a strong contribution to the car's commanding position at the latter before electrical failure denied the team a likely win. He also showed he can still hack it in single-seaters by clinching a second Super Formula crown in the wet at Suzuka.

36. Thierry Neuville (B, 6th in World Rally)
Three trips to the podium, include a maiden victory in Germany - albeit in somewhat fortuitous circumstances - represents a solid return for Neuville in his first season as a factory Hyundai driver, which was blighted somewhat by numerous mechanical mishaps. The Belgian did enough to suggest he can be a threat to the Volkswagen drivers if the Korean manufacturer can raise its game next year.

35. Yvan Muller (F, 2nd in World Touring Cars)
Hitherto the benchmark driver in the series, Muller struggled to adapt to the new, more powerful and aerodynamic breed of WTCC machine. Arguably, the dye was cast at the very first round in Marrakesh, won by his Citroen team-mate Jose Maria Lopez, and though Muller went on to take four wins, he simply couldn't keep up with the Argentine in the latter half of the year.

34. Mike Conway (GB, Race winner in IndyCar and World Endurance)
IndyCar victories at Long Beach and Toronto enhanced further Conway's reputation for being something of a street circuit specialist, but 2014 showed that its in sportscars where the Brit's future really lies. He distinguished himself in his three appearances for Toyota, particularly at Bahrain, where he, Alex Wurz and Stephane Sarrazin took the #7 TS040 Hybrid's sole victory of the year.

33. Daniil Kvyat (RU, 15th in F1)
Eyebrows were raised when a then-teenage Kvyat was chosen for a Toro Rosso seat, but the Russian's performances this season have more than vindicated Red Bull's decision. He may have been outscored comfortably by team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, but frequent mechanical woes were largely to blame for that, his speed demonstrated by his 12-7 qualifying record against the Frenchman.

32. Mattias Ekstrom (S, 2nd in DTM)

After being shaded by Audi stablemate Mike Rockenfeller last year, Ekstrom emerged as the standard-bearer for the Ingolstadt marque in this year's DTM series with wins in the final two races of the year at Zandvoort and Hockenheim. Three other podiums also marked out the Swede as the most consistent driver in the series with the exception of runaway champion Marco Wittmann.

31. Scott Dixon (NZ, 3rd in IndyCar)
Never out of the top three in the IndyCar points since 2007, Dixon is unquestionably one of the championship's class acts, but the New Zealander was a victim of his Chip Ganassi team dropping the ball in the first half of the year. Crashing in the Indy 500 was the nadir of his season, but he made amends with a superb charge from last to win at Mid Ohio, followed up by a second win at Sonoma.

30. Carlos Sainz Jr. (E, Formula Renault 3.5 Champion)
The quality of the competition in Formula Renault 3.5 wasn't quite as high as last year, but that shouldn't detract from what has been Sainz's best ever season in a single-seater. After being hammered in GP3 by team-mate Kvyat last year, the young Spaniard had a point to prove - and he did so in fine style, seven victories carrying him to title glory and an F1 shot with Toro Rosso.

29. Neel Jani (CH, 3rd in World Endurance)
Though Mark Webber monopolised media attention concerning Porsche's return to top-level endurance racing, Jani was often the quickest man of the Stuttgart marque's line-up. The Swiss took the #14 919 Hybrid to two poles at Shanghai and Bahrain, and was confident that he would have held on to take Porsche's first comeback win at Sao Paulo even before the sister car's shunt sealed the deal.

28. Brad Keselowski (US, 5th in NASCAR)

Six wins and a very strong final third of the year made Keselowski one of the year's star performers, and the 30-year-old would surely have been in title contention at the Homestead showdown if not for his transmission failure at Martinsville. Still, he'd have featured higher up this list had he not been involved in not one, but two post-race fights at Charlotte and Texas following contact at both races.

27. Jolyon Palmer (GB, GP2 Champion)
Dominating the early part of the campaign with five podiums in the first five races, it's hard to begrudge Palmer his GP2 title success. But, he was outclassed by Stoffel Vandoorne later in the year, and anything less than championship success with the all-conquering DAMS team would arguably have constituted failure bearing in mind his considerable experience at this level.

26. Sebastian Vettel (D, 5th in F1)
While Vettel's struggles with loss of the exhaust-blown diffuser meant he couldn't extract the most from the Red Bull RB10, the phenomenal success of Daniel Ricciardo in the other side of the garage makes the four-time champion's season look worse than it was in reality. Podiums at Malaysia, Singapore and Japan were the highlights of a year the German will otherwise want to forget.

25. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL, 4th in IndyCar)
Returning to single-seaters after a lengthy spell in NASCAR is no easy task, especially at 38 years of age. But Montoya handled the transition better than most observers predicted, frequently giving his Penske team-mates a decent run for their money. His win at the double-points Pocono race flatters his championship position a little, though he was unfortunate to miss out on victory at Houston.

24. Max Verstappen (NL, 3rd in European Formula 3)

Having two leading F1 teams squabbling over your signature when you're only 16 years old, and in your first season of car racing, is clear evidence you're doing something right. Some early errors and technical problems may have ended Verstappen's Euro F3 title challenge before it got going, but six wins on the trot at Spa and the Norisring were enough for him to land a Toro Rosso F1 seat.

23. Joey Logano (US, 4th in NASCAR)
Despite the botched pitstop that ruined his title shot at Homestead, it's telling that Logano would have been crowned NASCAR champion in 2014 using the previous points system. That's largely down to the fact that the 24-year-old finished in the top six in seven of the nine Chase races prior to the finale, victories at New Hampshire and Kansas taking his tally for the year to an impressive five.

22. Stoffel Vandoorne (B, 2nd in GP2 Series)
The nature of GP2 makes it hard for rookies to make an impact, but Vandoorne was able to prove his star quality with four victories - including one on his series debut at Bahrain - and as many pole positions, securing the best points finish for a newcomer since Nico Hulkenberg won in 2009. The only trouble now for the Belgian is that, next year, he'll be expected not only to win, but dominate.

21. Felipe Massa (BR, 7th in F1)

After five seasons spent in the shadow of Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, 2014 saw Massa back to his best form since his accident at Hungary back in 2009. While he was outpaced more often than not by Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas, it was the Brazilian who took the Grove-based team's only pole of the year at Austria and came closest to victory, first at Canada and then at the Abu Dhabi finale.

20. Simon Pagenaud (F, 5th in IndyCar)
For the second year in a row, Pagenaud managed to notch up two race victories for the Schmidt Peterson outfit, only dropping out of the championship top three because of the double points on offer at the Fontana finale. It was hard not to feel that a driver of the Frenchman's calibre was rather too good for such a small operation - his promotion to Penske for 2015 is a just reward for his efforts.

19. Esteban Ocon (F, European Formula 3 Champion)
Though this year of F3 will be primarily remembered for Verstappen bursting onto the car racing scene, the achievements of series champion Ocon, who is equally deserving of an F1 shot, shouldn't be overlooked. The Frenchman was barely off the podium for the first half of the year, winning five of the first 12 races before effectively sealing the crown with an emphatic triple win at Moscow.

18. Jamie Whincup (AU, V8 Supercars Champion)
Simply put, over the course of the year, nobody else in the V8 Supercars series could touch Whincup, whose staggering tally of 14 wins (nobody else won more than four) duly delivered him a sixth title. That elevates him ahead of such greats as Mark Skaife and Dick Johnson as the championship's most successful ever driver - and who would bet against the 31-year-old winning more in years to come?

17. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN, 2nd in World Rally)

Having won just one rally in 2013, this season was a much improved one for Latvala, who ran champion Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier far harder this time around. Beating the Frenchman in a straight fight on home turf in Finland was the highlight, and while his Germany crash halted his title charge, his late season form will give him great confidence heading into 2015.

16. Jose Maria Lopez (RA, World Touring Car Champion)
Alongside team-mates Muller and Sebastien Loeb, Lopez looked very much like the third driver in Citroen's WTCC line-up at the start of the 2014 - until the Argentine won first time out at Marrakesh. Muller fought back at first, but by the time of Lopez's double win at his home event, it was clear nobody was going to stop the 31-year-old taking a well-earned title in his first full season.

15. Jeff Gordon (US, 6th in NASCAR)
Gordon's been racing in NASCAR's top tier for as long as this writer's been alive, and the 43-year-old has lost none of the speed that carried him to four Cup titles. He was unlucky to miss out on a fifth championship, coming painstakingly close to making the final four for the Homestead shootout - a race he looked like winning for much of the distance before a late strategic miscue.

14. Jenson Button (GB, 8th in F1)

After two so-so years, it almost seemed as if the challenge of prolonging his F1 career helped to rejuvenate Button, who had the clear measure of his rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen. Honours between the McLaren pair were roughly even in qualifying, but it was on Sundays that the Brit's experience told, squeezing over double the number of points out of a substandard car than the Dane.

13. Helio Castroneves (BR, 2nd in IndyCar)
You can't give Castroneves enough credit for the way he handled himself in the aftermath of defeat - not only at the Indy 500, after losing to Ryan Hunter-Reay by less than a tenth, but also after a succession of late season misfortunes denied him the chance to fight team-mate Will Power for the title. What's more, even at 39, you sense the jovial Brazilian has a few more good years in him yet.

12. Anthony Davidson (GB, World Endurance Champion)
Armed with what was demonstrably the quickest car in the LMP1 field, Davidson's determination to seize his chance of world championship glory was in clear evidence after the disappointment of missing out on a shot at winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Though narrowly eclipsed by co-driver Sebastien Buemi, the plucky Brit's pace and tenacity makes him a thoroughly deserving champion.

11. Marco Wittmann (D, DTM Champion)

It's not uncommon for those who excel in DTM to reach F1, and his dominance this year would make Wittmann a worthy candidate for a shot at the highest level. A maiden win at Hockenheim was followed by two poles and a second triumph at Hungary, and the 25-year-old was never lower than sixth thereafter - duly becoming the series' third-youngest ever champion with two rounds to spare.

10. Valtteri Bottas (FIN, 4th in F1)
We saw glimpses of his potential last year, but with a vastly better Williams underneath him in 2014, Bottas was able to show what he's really made of. Often the quickest non-Mercedes driver, he out-gunned his much more experienced team-mate Felipe Massa 13-6 in qualifying and was on the podium twice as often. Fending off Lewis Hamilton for second in Germany was his finest hour.

9. Sebastien Buemi (CH, World Endurance Champion)
There was little to separate him from fellow champion Davidson, but Buemi gets the nod for having more stand-out moments during the year. Chief among these was his mesmerising opening stint at Austin, team-mate Nicolas Lapierre undoing all of the Swiss driver's efforts with a spin once the heavens opened, while his early fightback from last to first at Shanghai was equally awe-inspiring.

8. Kevin Harvick (US, NASCAR Champion)
Say what you will about the controversial new NASCAR Chase format, but there's no doubt it produced a worthy champion in Harvick, whose win tally of five fails to do justice to the speed he demonstrated all season. Eight poles made the Stewart-Haas driver the benchmark in qualifying, the Californian also leading the most laps by a country mile - 2137 to Brad Keselowski's 1540.

7. Will Power (AU, IndyCar Champion)
Having missed out on the IndyCar title at the final round for three in years in a row from 2010 to 2012, it was refreshing to see Power finally clinch the prize this year after a season during which he just had the edge over Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves. Milwaukee was the most impressive of his three wins, the Aussie proving he's now a match for anyone on ovals as well as road courses.

6. Andre Lotterer (D, 2nd in World Endurance and Le Mans 24 Hours winner)

Outpacing Marcus Ericsson in qualifying at Spa by a whole second in a one-off outing for Caterham supplied yet more evidence that Lotterer is the quickest circuit racer outside of F1. An incredible late quintuple stint helped ensure a third Le Mans triumph for he and his Audi team-mates, while two victories in Super Formula further underlined just what a complete and versatile performer he is.

5. Nico Rosberg (D, 2nd in F1)
Many pundits' pre-season tip for the title, Rosberg managed to surprise and disappoint in equal measure behind the wheel of the dominant Mercedes. Few would have predicted the sheer one-lap prowess the German demonstrated, but all too often he had no answer to the race pace of his team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton, particularly after their contentious coming together at Spa.

4. Sebastien Ogier (F, World Rally Champion)
His second title may not have been quite as straightforward as his first last year, but there remains no other rally driver on earth able to consistently challenge Ogier. The Volkswagen driver scooped another nine victories this season, seeing off the threat of team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, and it could have been more if not for a rare error in Germany and electrical problems at home in France.

3. Fernando Alonso (E, 6th in F1)
Alonso's exploits in the least competitive car Ferrari have produced since joining forces with the Spaniard will have done little to dissuade the many observers who believe him to still be the sport's finest driver. Utterly trouncing stablemate Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso often dragged the troublesome F14 T to positions it had no right to be in, not least of which his stellar drive to second at Hungary.

2. Lewis Hamilton (GB, F1 Champion)
While Hamilton taking an overdue second title was by no means a surprise given the pace advantage of the Mercedes, the way the 29-year-old overcame team-mate Rosberg was far from expected. His success owed less to his out-and-out speed than to a mastery of the new regulations as well as the late-season psychological advantage over the German that he skilfully crafted himself.

1. Daniel Ricciardo (AU, 3rd in F1)

It's no accident that the only non-Mercedes driver to win a Grand Prix this season was Ricciardo, who can now consider himself part of F1's elite after putting his more illustrious Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel to shame. His pace was blistering all year, making hardly any errors of note, while some of the wide-grinning Aussie's overtaking moves can only be described as poetry in motion.

Alonso and the Silly Season That Keeps On Giving

In all the 15 years I've been following Formula One, I cannot remember the driver market being as unsettled as it is currently at such a late stage of the season.

By this time last year, we knew that Kimi Raikkonen was on his way to Ferrari; the previous year, the world was aware by late September of the news that Lewis Hamilton had turned his back on McLaren in favour of Mercedes.

There seems to be a growing feeling in the paddock that there may yet be a silly season bombshell of comparable magnitude this year too, despite noises being made by the 'big four' teams to the contrary in recent weeks.

The key man is Fernando Alonso, whose future has been subject to all kinds of speculation for quite some time now despite the Spaniard having a contract to remain at Ferrari until the end of 2016.

Such lengthy deals always tend to have get-out clauses, and it appears that the Scuderia's lacklustre showing this year has triggered a performance clause that has led Alonso to start playing hardball with the newly-installed Ferrari management.

It has been said that Alonso wants a bonus payment for every point earned, not dissimilar to the ertswhile arrangement between Raikkonen and Lotus that almost bankrupted the Enstone outfit.

While Ferrari could undoubtedly afford such a deal, the Italian team is renowned for its dislike of drivers who see themselves as bigger than the collective - and the scent given by Alonso's negotiating tactics is hardly one of being a team player dedicated to the Maranello cause.

Still considered the sport's finest operator by many, Alonso has other options should Ferrari refuse to bow to their star driver's demands. McLaren have been making behind-the-scenes moves to try and lure the 33-year-old for getting on for a year now - so if Alonso's brinksmanship fails, he can be safe in the knowledge that Woking would welcome him back with open arms.

But, moving to McLaren in the first year of its new partnership with Honda - whose engines, it is easily forgotten, were far from the class of the field during the Japanese marque's most recent foray into F1 - would be a big risk, especially when 2015 will be the first full season for Ferrari's promising new regime headed by Sergio Marchionne, Marco Mattiacci and James Allison.

A switch to McLaren may not be Alonso's only option however. The big rumour doing the rounds in Singapore was that Alonso could be on the cusp of switching seats with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, an accusation denied by both.

But, that was before the full story of Alonso's negotiations with his team had come to light, and Vettel has long been believed to be at the top of Ferrari's shopping list in the event of Maranello needing a new lead driver.

The way he's been outperformed by new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo must have made the thought of dissolving what is currently the longest-standing team/driver partnership on the grid cross Vettel's mind, especially since his favoured race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin, who has steered the German to four world titles, will no longer be by his side next year. And that's before you consider Adrian Newey taking more of a hands-off role once he's laid the foundations for next year's Red Bull.

But, the prospect of joining a McLaren team seemingly incapable of manufacturing a winning chassis will have hardly tempted Vettel to fly the Red Bull nest. A seat at Ferrari may be a different matter, though - if nothing else, the German would conclude he would easily have the measure of Kimi Raikkonen as a team-mate, whereas being beaten by Danny Ric two years on the trot simply isn't an option.

Even if Vettel were to conclude that his interests are best served by staying put, there's always a chance that Ferrari could orchestrate a swap between Alonso and Ricciardo.

Deserting the team that gave him his big break might seem inadvisable for the Australian, but you can hardly underestimate the potential lure of being drafted in by Ferrari to lead a new era in the team's history. Such a move didn't work out too badly for a certain M. Schumacher, after all.

Then there's Mercedes, which would probably be the team Alonso (along with just about every other driver on the grid) would opt to join if he had free choice.

But, with Nico Rosberg having signed a two-year extension to his contract earlier this year, the only route to Brackley for Alonso would be, as has been suggested in some quarters, if the Spaniard were to exchange seats with Lewis Hamilton, who still has a year to run on his contract.

Such a scenario taking place means Hamilton would have to lose the title to Rosberg in particularly acrimonious style - far from impossible to imagine, but an unlikely prospect now that the Brit has taken the lead of the championship following a seventh victory of the season at Singapore last weekend.

An unlikelier prospect still, however, is the latest story to emerge from the rumour mill turning into reality - that Alonso is bound for the cash-strapped Lotus team.

The disgraced former boss of the Enstone outfit, Flavio Briatore, is said to be trying to broker a deal for Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll (who has also been linked to purchasing Sauber and Marussia in recent weeks) to buy the team and pay for the services of Alonso, as well as the Mercedes engines that the team are ostensibly unable to afford under the current ownership.

Of all the options Alonso may or may not have, surely this one can be written off immediately. Finding a buyer would not miraculously transform Lotus's fortunes overnight; it would be a long-term project nurturing the team back to full competitiveness, probably at least three years - by which point, Alonso would be 36 years old and perhaps a little beyond his prime.

If joining McLaren would be a gamble, plumping for Lotus would be tantamount to re-mortgaging your house, flying out to Vegas and sticking the entire sum on zero at the roulette table.

So, where does all of that leave Alonso? Much depends on the outcome of the negotiations with Ferrari. A move to Mercedes (at least in 2015) looks to be a non-starter; perhaps it's not a surprise that those particular rumblings emerged from the Spanish press, who would no doubt love to see their darling cruise to a long overdue third world championship with a dominant car beneath him.

Of the remaining three options, Red Bull would be the only one worth deserting Ferrari in favour of at this stage. That would require one of the two incumbents at Milton Keynes to move in the opposite direction - a possibility, but only if a swap was arranged by the Scuderia.

Mattiacci's slightly cryptic response to the latest questions about Alonso's future at Singapore is telling. What it indicates is that Ferrari are no longer willing to bend over backwards to accommodate Alonso's every whim - after all, for a team that so famously values loyalty, what is a contract that allows the Spaniard to leave at the first sign of a vacancy emerging at a rival team really worth?

Of course, it's quite possible that Alonso and Ferrari will settle their differences and agree to continue for at least one more year, giving Maranello one final chance to finally rise to the challenge of producing the world-beating car its resources are capable of delivering after five seasons of falling short.

But, such a deal would almost certainly have to be written to allow Alonso to jump ship for 2016 if certain performance-related conditions are not met.

And, if Ferrari fails to come up with the goods again next year, we'll be left with more or less exactly the same scenario - except that Alonso will be one year closer to retirement, perhaps a little more desperate to find a way out of his long-term deal, and that a move to Mercedes or Red Bull may be a more viable prospect than it is currently.

Wherever Alonso moves next - if he does choose to depart Ferrari - is likely to be the place he sees out his F1 career; his decision consequently could well come to define his legacy.

Three titles have already slipped through his fingers, and no doubt several more will too if his choice, whatever it may be, turns out to be the wrong one.

F1 Mid-season Driver Ratings 2014

With the F1 fraternity enjoying the last week of its summer break before returning to action at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend, it's time to reveal my mid-season driver ratings in what has so far been a spectacular season of racing:

Lewis Hamilton (GB, Mercedes) 2nd in Championship, 5 wins, 4 poles, 191pts              
Rating: A-

Had this post been written just after the Spanish Grand Prix, where Hamilton took a fourth successive win after another tight battle with Nico Rosberg, it would be hard to award the Briton anything other than full marks. But, since that infamous qualifying session in Monaco, it's the German who has gained the upper hand between the two Mercedes team-mates.

One particularly illuminating stat is that every time Hamilton hasn't been on pole, he has been outqualified by Rosberg - a poor reflection on a driver whose single lap pace is often regarded as his strongest suit. Admittedly, car troubles at Hockenheim and the Hungaroring have played their part, but then again so have crucial errors at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.

Hamilton was fortunate that gearbox failure for Rosberg at Silverstone allowed him to claw back precious ground in the championship, but his recovery drives at the following two races were both masterclasses in damage limitation. Beating his title adversary at Hungary despite his pitlane start in particular will have given the 2008 champion a vital psychological boost going into the latter half of the year.

Nico Rosberg (D, Mercedes) 1st in Championship, 4 wins, 6 poles, 202 pts
Rating: A 

After the Spanish Grand Prix, where Rosberg was beaten by Hamilton for a fourth time in succession, many were beginning to question whether the destiny of the title was already decided; whether the German could possibly mount a fight-back from such a position of weakness. But, since then, Rosberg has lived up to the title favourite billing with which many observers had assigned him pre-season.

Whatever your thoughts on the events of qualifying at Monaco, it was Rosberg who had set the quicker first run in Q3 - going on to outqualify Hamilton in the next three races. The points leader was also unfortunate to lose potential victories in both Canada and Britain to mechanical woes, while the timing of the safety car in Hungary was also unfortunate, though that doesn't fully excuse Rosberg from ultimately finishing behind his team-mate.

It's unlikely that Rosberg is going to have a better opportunity to win the title than the one he has this season, and so far he has proven he has both the speed and the mental fortitude to get the job done. Unreliability has had a part in tilting the scales in Nico's favour, but his sheer consistency and coolness in the face of adversity have played an equally important role.

Sebastian Vettel (D, Red Bull) 6th in Championship, 2 podiums, 88pts
Rating: B 

A combination of Mercedes supremacy and the loss of the exhaust-blown diffuser meant that Vettel was always going to be in for a harder time in 2014 than he had become accustomed to in his championship years. But, few could have predicted the struggle the four-time champion has endured in his bid to get on top of the new regulations, as well as his ultra-quick new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Indeed, on just one occasion when both Red Bull cars have finished has Vettel beaten Ricciardo, on home turf at Hockenheim, where the latter lost time avoiding the Massa-Magnussen collision, while the German has been soundly beaten in qualifying 7-4. That's not to say that Vettel has driven poorly, but he has clearly failed to extract the most from the RB10 this year.

Daniel Ricciardo (AU, Red Bull) 3rd in Championship, 2 wins, 131pts
Rating: A+ 

The only man not blessed with a Mercedes to have tasted victory this season, Ricciardo has started to deliver on the promise shown in his junior career and his two years at Toro Rosso, becoming a bona fide part of the sport's elite crop of drivers. In fact, he's been the revelation of the season, making his far more illustrious team-mate Vettel look rather average by comparison.

Finishing second in front of his home fans prior to his disqualification at Melbourne set the tone for a season that has been full of great drives, Ricciardo shaking off his previous reputation of being a strong qualifier but a mediocre racer. Both of his wins in Canada and Hungary may have owed something to good fortune, but on each occasion the Aussie made the most of the golden opportunity presented to him.

Fernando Alonso (E, Ferrari) 4th in Championship, 2 podiums, 115pts
Rating: A+

Despite the enormous frustration of Ferrari being yet again unable to provide him with a title contending car in 2014, Alonso has done nothing to dissuade his supporters of their view that he remains the best driver in the business. Indeed, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen has finished inside the top six just once, the Spaniard has managed to finish in at least that position at every race bar one - at Bahrain, where he sarcastically celebrated a ninth place finish at a track where the F14 T's deficiencies were ruthlessly exposed.

The highlight undoubtedly came in Hungary, where a gamble on tyre strategy very nearly yielded the unlikeliest of victories. It was nevertheless refreshing to see Alonso back in the spotlight having finished a superb second, after so many races where similar heroics have gone rather unnoticed amid a backdrop of Mercedes domination.

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN, Ferrari) 12th in Championship, 27pts
Rating: D

Unquestionably the disappointment of the season, Raikkonen has for much of 2014 seemed a shadow of his former self, struggling to adapt to the handling characteristics of this year's new breed of machinery. Beating Alonso was always going to be a tall order, but nobody was expecting the Finn to be trounced quite so soundly by the two-time champion heading into the season.

The statistics in this regard speak for themselves: just twice this season has Raikkonen out-qualified Alonso in 11 races, while the Finn hasn't finished ahead once. The fact he was denied a likely podium by a collision with backmarker Max Chilton at Monaco - the one circuit where Raikkonen looked to truly have the measure of Alonso - just about summed up his year so far. Will it be his last in the sport? 

Jenson Button (GB, McLaren) 8th in Championship, 1 podium, 60pts
Rating: B+ 

Casual observers would be forgiven for thinking that, considering all the speculation surrounding his future, Button has suffered a rather mediocre season thus far. But, the reality is that the Brit has performed consistently well given the limitations of his machinery, responding positively to the threat of new team-mate Kevin Magnussen after the shock of being beaten first time out at Melbourne.

The qualifying battle between the pair stands at 6-5 in Button's favour, fourth places at Montreal and Silverstone ranking as the 34-year-old's best performances of the season. But, while he has had the measure of Magnussen at the vast majority of races this year, anything less would have been considered disastrous - you still can't help but wonder whether Button is the right man to lead McLaren going forward. 

Kevin Magnussen (DK, McLaren) 10th in Championship, 1 podium, 37pts
Rating: B

Hopes were already high for Magnussen when he arrived as the sport's new kid on the block at Melbourne, and after a phenomenal drive to second at the curtain-raiser, comparisons with Hamilton, the last rookie McLaren took a chance on, were being bandied about with eyebrow-raising frequency. That pressure might explain why Magnussen's subsequent performances were slightly more fraught, notwithstanding his machinery's competitive slump.

That he has the speed to challenge team-mate Button isn't in doubt; but his inexperience at stringing together complete race weekends had been evident. More recently however, Magnussen has begun to mature into a more consistent performer, his seventh place finish at Austria standing out as his most impressive post-Australia result. Expect him to give \Button a harder time from now until the end of the year.

Felipe Massa (BR, Williams) 9th in Championship, 1 pole, 40pts
Rating: B-

If Massa knew deep down during his time at Ferrari that matching the standard set by Alonso would be nigh-on impossible, he must have arrived at Williams this season confident of putting upstart team-mate Valtteri Bottas in his place. But, far from stamping his authority over the far less experienced Finn, the veteran Brazilian has been outscored by a ratio of two-to-one and outqualified 7-4.

True enough, plenty of points have gone begging thanks to incidents that weren't his fault and team blunders early in the year, but Massa hasn't made enough of the pace of the Williams when things have gone his way - Austria, where he took pole but lost out to Bottas to come home fourth, being a prime example. His self-inflicted retirement at Hockenheim was also inexcusable for a driver of Massa's experience.

Valtteri Bottas (FIN, Williams) 5th in Championship, 3 podiums, 95pts
Rating: A 

If Ricciardo has been the stand-out young driver of 2014 so far, then Bottas has to come a close second, spearheading this year's Williams renaissance and convincingly shading stablemate Massa. The only major error the Finn has made all season was at Melbourne, where he threw away a likely second place, but he has atoned for that more recently with three consecutive podium visits.

The first of these came at Austria, Bottas beating polesitting teammate Massa in a straight fight to clinch the final podium spot behind the two Mercedes. His charge from 14th on the grid to second at Silverstone was one of the drives of the season, while holding off Hamilton to repeat the result two weeks later at Hockenheim was another measured performance by a driver who seems destined for big things.

Nico Hulkenberg (D, Force India), 7th in Championship, 69pts
Rating: B+ 

Returning to Force India after a season at Sauber, Hulkenberg has proven solid rather than spectacular this year so far. Where team-mate Sergio Perez took the team's most eye-catching result with third at Bahrain, Hulkenberg hasn't finished higher than fifth - though he has done so on four occasions, scoring the lion's share of Force India's constructors' points as a result.

The German has also outqualified his younger team-mate 9-2, and, prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, he shared the honour with Alonso of being the only driver to have scored points in every race. His ill-judged overtaking move on Perez nonetheless left the Ferrari driver in a class of one in that respect, but that has been the sole blot on an otherwise very neat copybook.

Sergio Perez (MEX, Force India), 11th in Championship, 1 podium, 29pts
Rating: B-

While Perez was massively unlucky to join McLaren last season at the team's lowest ebb in over 30 years, the Mexican has equally proved fortunate to have arrived at Force India just as the Silverstone-based team has got itself in a position to fight for its best ever constructors' finish. Indeed, a superb podium finish at Bahrain by Perez immediately bettered his best finish of fifth achieved last season.

But, since then, things have been decidedly up-and-down for the 24-year-old. He cost himself potential strong finishes at both Monaco and Canada, where, in hindsight, Perez should have been more circumspect defending from Massa given his car's brake problems. A storming drive to sixth at Austria followed, but Perez needs to find more consistency if he's ever to put himself back in contention for a top-line drive.

The Rest

It would be fair to say that Jean-Eric Vergne (B) faced an impossible task this season this season having missed out on the promotion to Red Bull to Ricciardo, but it's one he has performed admirably in spite of Toro Rosso's poor reliability, picking up four points finishes and out-qualifying his team-mate 6-5.

Vergne's only problem is that his team-mate is Daniil Kvyat (B+), who became the sport's youngest ever points-scorer at Melbourne and has belied his inexperience with his consistent pace since. The Russian is already shaping up nicely as Red Bull's next star to slot alongside Ricciardo when Vettel decides to leave, leaving Vergne in a rather tricky situation.

Romain Grosjean (B)  has had to endure a trying season with Lotus after his heroics in the second half of 2013, squeezing just eight points out of what has been the worst car to come out of Enstone in more than a decade. Qualifying fifth at Spain was a particular highlight for the Frenchman, who has done more than enough to warrant better machinery for next year.

Indeed, Grosjean has hammered team-mate Pastor Maldonado (E), who despite now being in his fourth season in F1 continues to make errors that would be barely excusable for a novice. Worse still, he's been outqualified 10-1 by Grosjean - and qualifying is meant to be the Venezuelan's forté. He must be breathing a sigh of relief that his PDVSA backing has bought him at least one more season with Lotus.

Adrian Sutil (C) is hardly one to outperform the machinery at his disposal, so it shouldn't come as any real surprise that he's yet to get on the scoreboard in this year's dismal Sauber, a pair of 11th places standing as the German's best results. Whether he keeps his seat for next year will largely depend on money, though this year has arguably proved that the 31-year-old is past his sell-by date at this level.

The fate of Esteban Gutierrez (D) will also be determined primarily by what cash is available, but on merit the young Mexican has done little to suggest he deserves a third season at Sauber. He has outqualified Sutil 6-5, but his race performances have largely been scrappy, with his mistake at Monaco costing the Hinwil-based team its only realistic shot at points this season so far.

Jules Bianchi (A-) on the other hand was superb at Monaco, his reward being the first two points of his career and Marussia's existence. The Frenchman, who has also made two Q2 visits in the least three races, has predictably had the measure of team-mate Max Chilton (C-) and is surely set for greener pastures next year while the Brit's F1 career looks to be heading nowhere fast.

It's been a difficult return to the sport for Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi (C+), who has done about as well as could be expected, even making Q2 in Melbourne, but is nonetheless far from certain to see out the year. Marcus Ericsson (D) meanwhile has been singularly unspectacular, never qualifying higher than 20th; the Swede needs to do more relative to his team-mate if he ever wants to shake off his 'pay driver' tag.

The 2014 Silly Season Gets Underway

Speculation over which drivers are heading where for the following season seems to begin earlier and earlier each year in Formula One, and this year's silly season now appears to have kicked off in earnest following comments from McLaren boss Ron Dennis in the run-up to last weekend's British Grand Prix that Jenson Button needs to "try harder".

The Briton responded to this jibe in the best possible way at Silverstone, taking his best result since the season opener at Melbourne and coming within a second of breaking his podium duck at his home circuit, but it appears to be accepted wisdom that McLaren have been knocking on the door of potential replacements for Button in the form of both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

While it would take a peculiar set of circumstances indeed to compel the latter to re-join the very team he spurned at the end of 2014 to join the now-dominant Mercedes outfit, a return to McLaren for Alonso is a somewhat more viable prospect, albeit not the near-certainty it seemed six months ago prior to Dennis' return to prominence at Woking.

Prior to his dismissal as McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh is understood to have been angling for Alonso to return, travelling to Madrid late last year in a bid to arrange a pre-agreement of sorts with the Spaniard - who himself told the media last year that any lingering resentments towards the team over his tempestuous 2007 season were because of "one man", in whose absence he would have no problem returning.

The man to which Alonso was referring is of course Dennis, but if the two-time champion was to arrive at the conclusion that McLaren and Honda are more likely to provide him with a title-winning car than Ferrari, any personal disagreements would surely be cast aside; equally, it's difficult to see Dennis taking issue to welcoming back to his team the man that many still rate as the very best on the grid.

With Alonso staring down the barrel of his first win-free season since he joined Ferrari, the possibility of jumping ship at the end of the year must surely have crossed his mind on more than one occasion - but with Mercedes and Red Bull all but certain to retain their existing driver line-ups, returning to McLaren is the only other viable option besides staying put at the Scuderia.

But, it's a risky choice: Honda's past success is by no means a guarantee that the Japanese firm's 2015 engine will be of similar quality to their offerings of the late 1980s, while McLaren, despite the vast resources at their disposal, as of late seem to have forgotten how to produce a chassis worthy of contending for the title.

It may thus be a case of better the devil you know for Alonso, who would be well-advised to give Ferrari, now under the stewardship of Marco Mattiacci, one final chance to deliver the goods next season whilst simultaneously keeping a close eye on the progress of the renewed McLaren-Honda alliance as well investigating the possibilities of any vacancies arising at either Mercedes or Red Bull.

Such a scenario gives Button one final chance to end his career on a high note after two seasons saddled with substandard machinery. Coming into this season, it seemed conceivable that this season may have proven the last in the sport for the 34-year-old, but the way he has responded to the challenge of fending off young Kevin Magnussen in the other side of the garage has been admirable.

But, if the second most senior driver on the grid looks to have done enough to prolong his career, things look a great deal less certain for the elder statesman. Kimi Raikkonen has endured an utterly torrid season, having been out-qualified 7-2 by teammate Alonso so far this year and having finished no higher than seventh place. The Finn languishes down in 12th in the drivers' standings on 19 points, versus 87 for the Spaniard.

On only two occasions this year has Raikkonen appeared even vaguely like the driver who won Ferrari's last drivers' title back in 2007 - at Spain, where he out-qualified Alonso and kept the home favourite at bay until the dying stages of the race, and at Monaco, where a likely podium finish went begging after Max Chilton contrived to give him a puncture during a Safety Car period.

Clearly, this isn't what Ferrari had in mind when they selected Raikkonen to replace Felipe Massa, much less when they agreed to remunerate the Iceman to the tune of a reputed $14m per year. Raikkonen's return to Ferrari was supposed to serve as a reminder to Alonso that no one man is bigger than the team; if he can't regularly challenge the Spaniard, what purpose does his presence at the team serve?

Then there's the question of motivation. Only Kimi himself knows exactly how motivated he is at this late stage in his career, though the fact he has recently gone on record to say that he will probably retire from the sport at the end of his existing contract with Ferrari, which expires at the end of 2015, is hardly the sign of somebody desperate to add a second world title to his resumé.

So, is history destined to repeat itself? Will Raikkonen and Ferrari once again agree to part ways with a year still to run on their contract? The reason the Finn was forced out of the picture last time around in 2010 was because of Ferrari's eagerness to begin their partnership with Alonso, but there appears to be no equivalent on the scene this time around as long as Mercedes and Red Bull maintain their current line-ups.

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The likes of Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean would be available; both are ready to step up to a top team and would probably push Alonso harder than an out-of-sorts Raikkonen. But the real question is whether Ferrari are sufficiently desperate to get a younger, hungrier driver in their second car to atone for the embarrassment of effectively announcing that they were wrong to re-sign Kimi in the first place.

Assuming Raikkonen wishes to continue for one more year, therefore, there is likely to be a place for him at Ferrari, all the more so because the team have a ready-made replacement in the form of Ferrari Academy member Jules Bianchi ready to fill the breach in 2016 - who could be stationed at a midfield outfit next year to serve the final year of his apprenticeship after two assured seasons at Marussia.

In the event Raikkonen does decide to hang up his helmet come November, Ferrari could decide to fast-track Bianchi to the seat alongside Alonso next year, which would have the benefit of providing continuity heading into 2016 should Fernando indeed opt to depart Maranello at that stage. Alternatively, the Scuderia could sign either Hulkenberg or Grosjean on a one-year deal before re-assessing their options for 2016.

Elsewhere, Williams and Force India are likely to retain their existing line-ups, although Bianchi, the team's third driver in 2012, would be the obvious option to fill the void at the latter team left by Hulkenberg were the German to be given the call-up by Ferrari. Bianchi could also end up at Lotus in place of compatriot Grosjean if the Franco-Swiss was selected to replace Raikkonen.

Grosjean has expressed his desire to step up to a regular race-winning outfit next year, but Ferrari isn't the only potential destination in that regard. Eric Boullier's appointment by McLaren at the start of the year sparked rumours that Grosjean could be destined for a drive at Woking in 2015, and such a move remains a possibility. But, of the team's existing drivers, it would probably be Magnussen who would have to make way.

That may seem harsh given that the young Dane has done a solid job in a less-than-competitive car this year, but having such an inexperienced driver on board has clearly hindered development of the recalcitrant MP4-29. Loaning Magnussen out to a rival outfit before bringing him back to the fold a couple of years down the line, when the team has returned to winning ways, is an option, much as Williams did with Button in spite of a strong debut season back in 2000.

Either way, it looks as if Grosjean's time at Lotus is coming to an end now that the Enstone outfit have announced a switch to Mercedes power for 2015, which is almost certain to herald the departure of fuel company Total, Grosjean's main backer. Should no vacancies emerge at either Ferrari or McLaren, Force India may be able to offer refuge to the 28-year-old.

Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, seems certain to remain on board at Lotus as long as his PDVSA cash doesn't dry up - although the Venezuelan state oil concern, in this writer's opinion, should look carefully at the possibility of switching their backing to promising GP2 racer Johnny Cecotto Jr. in the wake of what has been an unacceptably scrappy first half of the season for Maldonado.

One driver set to make his F1 debut next season is Carlos Sainz Jr., championship leader in Formula Renault 3.5, who would replace Jean-Eric Vergne alongside Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso. The Russian now has to be regarded as odds-on favourite to ultimately step up to Red Bull ahead of Vergne, which leaves no place for the Frenchman at a team whose raison d'être is to prepare young talents for the senior squad; a third driver role at Red Bull for Vergne could beckon.

Things are looking more fluid over at the cash-strapped Sauber team. The Swiss outfit will be reluctant to drop Adrian Sutil after a single season, but key to the German's fate - along with the somewhat underwhelming Esteban Gutierrez - will be money. Ex-Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde, the team's third driver, could well make his race return next year at Hinwil on that basis, while Sergey Sirotkin and Simona de Silvestro are also options for the team, albeit much riskier ones.

It's a similar story at Marussia, where there is set to be at least one seat up for grabs as Bianchi moves up the pecking order. Chilton could yet remain for a third season depending on the state of his finances, with last year's GP2 champion Fabio Leimer a prime contender to join the Banbury outfit. Jolyon Palmer, who currently leads the points in the official feeder series, could also be in contention if the requisite money can be found.

It's unclear whether Caterham will be on the grid next year, let alone who will be driving for the team recently sold by a disillusioned Tony Fernandes. Colin Kolles' involvement in the beleaguered squad's sale to a group of Arab investors has also raised questions of whether the squad will be merged with the Romanian-backed Forza Rossa outfit, which has been granted an entry by the FIA for 2015.

Assuming there is an 11th team, Marcus Ericsson is likely to stick around, although he could take his cash to Marussia if the Leafield-based team don't resurface next year. On the other hand, Kamui Kobayashi surely doesn't have the money to remain on board for a second year and would probably be replaced by a well-funded GP2 racer; Julian Leal and Rio Haryanto have driven for the team in testing, while Nathanael Berthon has recently been announced as a junior driver for the squad.