Along with the seismic regulations shift for the 2014 season, Formula 1 has welcomed three fresh faces to the grid. But how did they fare on their F1 debuts?
Let’s start with Kevin Magnussen, son of former F1 driver Jan and surprise replacement for the dropped Sergio Perez at McLaren.
I had high expectations of K-Mag ahead of the season opener in Melbourne following his domination of last year’s Formula Renault 3.5 championship. He also impressed during last year’s Silverstone Young Driver Test (I was there on the day), which was only his second outing in Formula 1 machinery.
There was plenty of pressure on the young Danish driver’s shoulders as he looked to emulate Lewis Hamilton’s unbelievable debut race for McLaren back in 2007. Incredibly and – for some - shockingly, he did just that despite being far less prepared in comparison to the Woking-based outfit’s last rookie.
Even with limited time driving F1 cars prior to winter testing, Magnussen looked comfortable and at home in the MP4-29 and rarely made mistakes as he settled into his new office in Jerez and Bahrain. He arrived in Melbourne in a quietly confident mood and performed well during Friday’s two practice sessions as he got to grips with the updated car.
The pecking order was still unknown as qualifying got underway and the wet weather also helped to spice up the action – I felt it was one of the best sessions I have seen in quite some time. Magnussen secured a spot on the second row of the grid for his debut in the sport and surprised many with a strong, error-free performance in challenging conditions.
The 21-year-old, ironically, knocked his experienced team-mate Jenson Button out in Q2 en route to setting the fourth fastest time in the top 10 shoot-out. I have to say, I was expecting him to make the final session but I didn’t expect him to do so well and with wet weather to contend with as well.
Coincidentally, it was the very same grid position that Hamilton had lined up in for his first race seven years earlier. But could the latest rookie to drive for the illustrious McLaren team score a podium? With four world champions and some strong, experienced drivers behind him on the grid, it would take a very impressive drive to do so.
And that is exactly what we witnessed. Despite a scary moment at the start – too much wheelspin caused him to slide across the circuit as he looked to take the outside line for turn one – he put in a mature and controlled drive to an outstanding third place finish. It was great to see him scoring such a great result, the car may have been good but he put in a brilliant performance.
However, his weekend was set to get even better when it emerged that second-place man Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull RB10 was under investigation. Five hours later, the Dane was officially promoted to the runner-up spot after his Australian rival was excluded from the race. It also promoted Button to third and meant McLaren extended their lead in the constructors’ standings.
In comparison, it was a quietly impressive first weekend for Daniil Kvyat – the latest driver to be promoted to F1 from Red Bull Racing’s driver development programme. He had been a surprise replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso, so there was plenty of interest surrounding his debut as he looked to prove that the Faenza-based outfit had made the right decision.
Some doubted at the time that he was ready for F1 after he had been plucked from GP3, rather than spending a year or two in GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5. It was a risk, yes, but a strong performance in Australia showed just how wrong the critics were. I can’t say I was too surprised, though.
He had a productive day of running on Friday, demonstrating that the Toro Rosso STR9 was reliable and faster than I had expected it to be. On Saturday the Russian driver managed to progress through Q1 and Q2, making it two rookies in the final session, and he eventually went on to set the eighth fastest time. It was a notable performance in tricky conditions following rain showers in the opening two sessions.
However, it wasn’t without incident after he was caught out on the gently curving straight that leads to turn 11. His car made contact with the wall but fortunately it was slow-speed accident and the damage was relatively minor.
Ahead of the race, Kvyat seemed calm and relaxed – like Magnussen, he certainly has a wise head on those very young shoulders – despite plenty of pressure and high expectations. He had a decent start but dropped behind Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa on the run to turn one. With Kamui Kobayashi crashing into the latter, he was able to reclaim the spot and crossed the line to start lap two in ninth position.
He made up a place thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s early retirement but lost it shortly after thanks to the charging Valtteri Bottas. He battled with the likes of Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen during the race and crossed the line in 10th place – one of only three Renault-powered cars to make it to the chequered flag.
It was a controlled and respectable first race for the 2013 GP3 champion, who showed that he could race fairly and battle with the best, as he became the youngest driver in F1 history to score a point (at the age of 19 years and 322 days). He also gained a position thanks to Ricciardo’s exclusion and certainly proved to any doubters that Toro Rosso’s risk was worth taking – for now at least.
Marcus Ericsson’s arrival in F1 was also somewhat surprising after four underwhelming seasons in GP2. The Swedish driver is obviously fast but failed to consistently win races in the highly competitive feeder series, meaning he had plenty to prove. The ‘pay driver’ tag was thrown around but he put in a decent performance on what was a difficult first race weekend.
It was a far from ideal debut after he only managed two laps during Friday practice. Reliability problems meant he was forced to watch the two sessions from the Caterham hospitality area and went into qualifying with very little running under his belt. Under the circumstances, 20th place and just a few tenths off the two Marussia drivers was a good result.
The first F1 race of his career didn’t go to plan and despite retiring on lap 29 with an oil pressure problem, he put in a good performance. It wasn’t a stand-out or outstanding display like Magnussen and Kvyat, but it was never going to be in a Caterham. With the machinery he had at his disposal, running as high as 11th in the early laps and racing maturely before he was forced to park the car, he did well.
It was certainly a challenging first race weekend for F1’s three 2014 rookies, but they all handled it well and with impressive maturity. Records were broken, points were scored and they learned plenty. Let's see if the strong performances continue throughout the season.
I had high expectations of K-Mag ahead of the season opener in Melbourne following his domination of last year’s Formula Renault 3.5 championship. He also impressed during last year’s Silverstone Young Driver Test (I was there on the day), which was only his second outing in Formula 1 machinery.
There was plenty of pressure on the young Danish driver’s shoulders as he looked to emulate Lewis Hamilton’s unbelievable debut race for McLaren back in 2007. Incredibly and – for some - shockingly, he did just that despite being far less prepared in comparison to the Woking-based outfit’s last rookie.
Even with limited time driving F1 cars prior to winter testing, Magnussen looked comfortable and at home in the MP4-29 and rarely made mistakes as he settled into his new office in Jerez and Bahrain. He arrived in Melbourne in a quietly confident mood and performed well during Friday’s two practice sessions as he got to grips with the updated car.
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| © McLaren Mercedes |
The 21-year-old, ironically, knocked his experienced team-mate Jenson Button out in Q2 en route to setting the fourth fastest time in the top 10 shoot-out. I have to say, I was expecting him to make the final session but I didn’t expect him to do so well and with wet weather to contend with as well.
Coincidentally, it was the very same grid position that Hamilton had lined up in for his first race seven years earlier. But could the latest rookie to drive for the illustrious McLaren team score a podium? With four world champions and some strong, experienced drivers behind him on the grid, it would take a very impressive drive to do so.
And that is exactly what we witnessed. Despite a scary moment at the start – too much wheelspin caused him to slide across the circuit as he looked to take the outside line for turn one – he put in a mature and controlled drive to an outstanding third place finish. It was great to see him scoring such a great result, the car may have been good but he put in a brilliant performance.
However, his weekend was set to get even better when it emerged that second-place man Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull RB10 was under investigation. Five hours later, the Dane was officially promoted to the runner-up spot after his Australian rival was excluded from the race. It also promoted Button to third and meant McLaren extended their lead in the constructors’ standings.
In comparison, it was a quietly impressive first weekend for Daniil Kvyat – the latest driver to be promoted to F1 from Red Bull Racing’s driver development programme. He had been a surprise replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso, so there was plenty of interest surrounding his debut as he looked to prove that the Faenza-based outfit had made the right decision.
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| © Red Bull/Getty Images |
He had a productive day of running on Friday, demonstrating that the Toro Rosso STR9 was reliable and faster than I had expected it to be. On Saturday the Russian driver managed to progress through Q1 and Q2, making it two rookies in the final session, and he eventually went on to set the eighth fastest time. It was a notable performance in tricky conditions following rain showers in the opening two sessions.
However, it wasn’t without incident after he was caught out on the gently curving straight that leads to turn 11. His car made contact with the wall but fortunately it was slow-speed accident and the damage was relatively minor.
Ahead of the race, Kvyat seemed calm and relaxed – like Magnussen, he certainly has a wise head on those very young shoulders – despite plenty of pressure and high expectations. He had a decent start but dropped behind Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa on the run to turn one. With Kamui Kobayashi crashing into the latter, he was able to reclaim the spot and crossed the line to start lap two in ninth position.
He made up a place thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s early retirement but lost it shortly after thanks to the charging Valtteri Bottas. He battled with the likes of Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen during the race and crossed the line in 10th place – one of only three Renault-powered cars to make it to the chequered flag.
It was a controlled and respectable first race for the 2013 GP3 champion, who showed that he could race fairly and battle with the best, as he became the youngest driver in F1 history to score a point (at the age of 19 years and 322 days). He also gained a position thanks to Ricciardo’s exclusion and certainly proved to any doubters that Toro Rosso’s risk was worth taking – for now at least.
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| © Caterham F1 Team |
Marcus Ericsson’s arrival in F1 was also somewhat surprising after four underwhelming seasons in GP2. The Swedish driver is obviously fast but failed to consistently win races in the highly competitive feeder series, meaning he had plenty to prove. The ‘pay driver’ tag was thrown around but he put in a decent performance on what was a difficult first race weekend.
It was a far from ideal debut after he only managed two laps during Friday practice. Reliability problems meant he was forced to watch the two sessions from the Caterham hospitality area and went into qualifying with very little running under his belt. Under the circumstances, 20th place and just a few tenths off the two Marussia drivers was a good result.
The first F1 race of his career didn’t go to plan and despite retiring on lap 29 with an oil pressure problem, he put in a good performance. It wasn’t a stand-out or outstanding display like Magnussen and Kvyat, but it was never going to be in a Caterham. With the machinery he had at his disposal, running as high as 11th in the early laps and racing maturely before he was forced to park the car, he did well.
It was certainly a challenging first race weekend for F1’s three 2014 rookies, but they all handled it well and with impressive maturity. Records were broken, points were scored and they learned plenty. Let's see if the strong performances continue throughout the season.
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