1 Racing Mind 2014 Formula 1 Mid-Season Report: Martini Williams Racing

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Martini Williams Racing

Team Score: B

Felipe Massa: B-

Valtteri Bottas: A-

Not only has the Martini Williams Racing team emerged considerably better than last year's team, the organization was a podium contender for several races. 2013 was a complete disaster for the nine-time constructors' title winner capturing only five points in 19 races. This year, Martini Williams Racing holds 121 point and is found in third place in the team standings. The abandonment of Renault for Mercedes-Benz power was likely a contributing factor to success. Although the engines received by Williams' are not quite at the zenith of performance as those powering the Mercedes AMG cars, the powerplant has nonetheless provided potency to the team's FW36 chassis.
 

The driver line-up for Martini Williams Racing reflect an experienced Brazilian pro with Felipe Massa and the budding sophomore talent of Finnish Valtteri Bottas. Both Massa and Bottas have been fast with the Williams-Mercedes but the younger driver has shown the best endurance for surviving grand prix races. Currently fifth in the Formula 1 Drivers' points, Bottas has qualified in the top-four three times in the past four grand prix events. Most impressively is Valtteri Bottas' current podium streak. Collecting his first-ever top-three finish in a Formula 1 race in Austria, Bottas has collected two runner-up spots at Silverstone and the Hockenheimring. Felipe Massa has also shown flashes of brilliance in 2014 but have been hindered by crashes including a scary one at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Ingredients for Second-Half of 2014: Martini Williams Racing can possibility exit the 2014 Formula 1 season with a victory if they can catch the Mercedes AMG team on a bad outing. Bottas and Massa must remain solid in qualifying as well as race scenarios. It is also pivotal that Williams continues to develop their FW36 chassis in a positive manner.

1 Racing Mind 2014 Formula 1 Mid-Season Report: Red Bull Racing



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Red Bull Racing

Team Score: C

Sebastian Vettel: C-

Daniel Ricciardo: B+

The dominant team in the grand prix paddock for several seasons, Red Bull Racing has found themselves unseated from to top of the podium in all but one race this season. Facing reliability problems in pre-season testing, the Red Bull-Renault RB10 arrived in Australia with not only technical gremlins but troubles with fuel consumption (new criteria limiting the amount of fuel burned by a race car cost Red Bull Racing and Daniel Ricciardo a podium result in post-race).

The only team other than Mercedes AMG to pull off a race win this season, the surreal part of the Red Bull Racing picture for 2014 has been the fact newcomer Daniel Ricciardo is outperforming his championship defending teammate Sebastian Vettel. Vettel has been enduring a slump few would have forecasted heading into the season.

 

Improvements for Second-Half of 2014: Daniel Ricciardo is performing at least at par for what Red Bull Racing could have expected heading into the year. However, the team needs to desperately recapture its magic that proved so powerful in the past four seasons. Needless to say, Sebastian Vettel must recover his mojo in the cockpit. Better performances in qualifying could grant the Red Bull-Renault a better shot at celebrations like the one in Canada.

1 Racing Mind 2014 Formula 1 Mid-Season Report: Mercedes AMG

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Mercedes AMG

Team Score: A

Lewis Hamilton: A-

Nico Rosberg: A

Knocking on the door for greatness during the past couple of seasons of grand prix racing, the factory-backed Silver Arrows are once again at the top of the auto racing world. Having almost swept the 2014 Formula 1 season to date, the Mercedes AMG team appears nothing less than extraordinary; at least, that is the way it looks on paper. The 2014 Mercedes AMG organization has clearly hit on right areas of developing a car to conform with the season's all-new gasoline/electric powertrain rules. Possessing a total of 366 manufacturers' points after the German Grand Prix, the Mercedes AMG team has gathered almost double the amount of their closest competitor Red Bull Racing.

For the second year in a row, Mercedes AMG has fielded former world champion driver Lewis Hamilton alongside the energetic German pilot Nico Rosberg. After 10 races, Hamilton holds five grand prix wins and Rosberg has four victories. With one fewer retirement, the German driver currently claims an advantage in the drivers' points standing. In the midway point, both drivers have been jockeying for attention as the team's number one. In the 44 car, Lewis Hamilton was specifically brought into the team to capture championship performance on the track. Now that has apparently occurred, Hamilton's greatest foil is long time Mercedes AMG pilot Nico Rosberg. With the team since 2010, Rosberg won the team's first race in China back in 2012.

Improvements for Second-Half of 2014: The only force that can beat Mercedes AMG is Mercedes AMG. With a fairly evident rivalry between Rosberg and Hamilton, it will prove important that the organization keeps the team as a whole the paramount concern heading into the final nine events.