Another highly anticipated championship was next up as the resident Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship formed on the grid. On pole Russell Akers in his uprated Vauxhall Astra from Tony Hutchings in his turbocharged Audi TT. Off the line it was pole man Akers who made a bad start as Hutchings in 2nd and the giant slaying little Peugeot 106 GTI of Adrian Slade flew off the line from 2nd and 5th. After his initial rocket getaway it was inevitable that soon Slade would drop down the field again as the more powerful cars re-took him. For the lead three it was traffic that was keeping Hutchings, Akers and Charles-Hyde-Andrews-Bird in his Renault Megane close together up front through the middle portion of the race.

The drama started on lap 10 however as first Akers passed Hutchings for the lead on the inside at the Esses, yet his lead didn’t last long as at the very next corner at Old Paddock he ran wide onto the grass dropping himself to a distant 4th. This appeared to settle the battle in Hutchings favour yet on the final lap inexplicably Bird in his Megane rapidly closed on Hutchings forcing him to defend the final few corners to hang onto his win in what was a far from easy almost lights to flag win. Bird did well in his first Class A race to finish 2nd from Class B winner Mark Wyatt in a distant 3rd.

Race 7 was the second of the Mini 7’s 10 lap dashes with the grid being set from drivers second fastest qualifying times. Therefore it was no surprise to see race 1 winner Andrew Deviny all alone on pole as second man Gareth Hunt was unable to fix his car from earlier. As the lights went out it was Deviny and third man Ross Billison that made the best starts as the field set off. The drivers had barely got into their stride before the Safety Car was out on lap 2 after S class race 1 victor Ian Deviny went off at Tower. The Safety Car finally pulled in on lap 6 at which point Deviny made a blinder of a getaway to restore his previous lead.

His lead didn’t last long however as Darren Thomas and Ashley Davies challenged Deviny for the lead on the outside at Bobbies on lap 7 in remarkable moves for both of them as they carried on their duel by swapping the lead plenty of times between laps 7 and 9. The real excitement was to be provided on the final lap however as Davies tried a last lap lunge going into Camp corner which tagged Thomas and sent Davies spinning off as the pack behind ducked and dived their way through. Through the drama came Darren Thomas to claim the victory from Andrew Deviny in 2nd and Spencer Wanstall in 3rd.

The second of the Lancaster Insurance MGOC races was up next with again second fastest qualifying times setting the grid. It seemed logical therefore that the front row was the same as race 1 with Ben Palmer on pole and Lee Sullivan alongside. Lee Sullivan matched his good start from race 1 this time around as he challenged for the lead going into Quarry. The action started here as Andrew Rogerson in 3rd spun at Quarry after possible contact from Sullivan, leaving Rogerson with a mountain to climb as he re-joined 14th.

Similarly to race 1 Palmer opened a big gap to the rest early on from Gary Smith this time in 2nd. Mirroring race 1 again the excitement was provided by a race long battle between Gary Smith in 2nd, Lee Sullivan in 3rd and Fergus Campbell in 4th. The battle was only disturbed by Campbell who made an error at Quarry and dropped to 5th on lap 9. In a race that largely mirrored race 1 it was Ben Palmer that took a double win from Castle Combe with Gary Smith 2nd this time from Lee Sullivan in 3rd.

The penultimate race of the day was for the Castle Combe Sports & GT championship in it’s new guise for 2014. With only GT cars allowed we saw ex-saloons racer Barry Squibb take pole in his monstrous Mitsubishi Evo 9 with Keith Dunn and his Caterham C400 alongside him. It was no surprise that at the start Squibb rocketed away with his 4wd system and immense power allowing him to shoot away into and early lead as behind him third man Nick Holden’s beefy Toyota GT86 struggled off the line.

The rest of the race provided entertainment as Squibb and Dunn battled for the lead in a classic racing case of David vs Goliath. Behind them the rest of the field were left for dead with the only other real drama being the initial surge from Adam Prebble in his Rover 220 Turbo which went from 13th- 6th in the opening 4 laps before pulling off with car issues, likewise Nick Holden and his magnificent sounding Toyota GT86 a few laps from the end. Barry Squibb held on for the win from a determined Keith Dunn in 2nd and a lonely Tim Woodman completed the podium in 3rd.

The final race of the day was the second race for the Mini Miglia championship, therefore it seemed the perfect end of the day as a thrilling race was almost guaranteed. The front row saw Daniel Wheeler on pole from Aaron Smith in 2nd, who had managed to sort his car troubles that forced him to miss race 1. At the lights it was Smith that shot away into the lead as Wheeler made a bad start from pole as he slipped down the field. Things got worse for Wheeler at Quarry as him and Niven Burge both went off but whilst Wheeler was able to continue on Burge thumped the barriers quite heavily. This initially brought out the Safety Car at the end of lap 1 before the race was red flagged on lap 2.

The red flag appeared a blessing for Wheeler as the original grid would line up again giving him a second chance at improving his start. After a small 10 minute delay we were racing again as Wheel suitably made a much better getaway this time along with Kane Astin in 4th. Things were bad this time for Smith who pulled off at Avon Rise on lap 1 in what was a miserable day for him with 0 points scored. An initial lead battle developed between Wheeler, Astin and Richard Casey between laps 2 and 5.

At this point things went sour again for Wheeler as he made a mistake and dropped to 6thas Astin took over the lead. Astin was helped maintain his lead as an epic battle developed for 2nd between Tony Le-May, David Drew, Richard Casey and Daniel Wheeler in the closing laps. The race was enthralling to watch as two 4 car trains came very close as the battled for 2nd and 6th respectively. All of these battled suited Kane Astin just fine as it left him free to take the victory from Tony Le-May in 2nd and David Drew in 3rd.

The good weather ensured the crowd remained until the very end in what was a great opening meeting of the 2014 season with the next car race meeting only a few weeks away on the next Bank Holiday Monday in early May. For anyone interested in finding out more about Castle Combe events here’s a link to their website.

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Also for anyone interested in further results from this meeting here’s a link to the official timekeeping company TSL Timing which have all the stats from Monday’s meeting.
http://www.tsl-timing.com/?loc=club&season=2014&series=CCRC&event=club&source=ed_CCRC&eventid=141768

Read the full report here http://www.motorsportsreports.co.uk/f1bahrainquali.html

The winter of uncertainty should be over now. In many previous seasons by this time of the season with the opening Australian Grand Prix less than a week away the teams should be fairly confident as to their understanding of the new car. Yet thanks to the raft of regulation changes all 11 F1 teams are in the dark as to their true potential for 2014. This is guaranteed to be another great Formula One season.

Firstly let’s start with the reigning champions Red Bull and Sebastien Vettel. Their winter has been particularly painful to watch. Although the chronic problems with the Renualt power unit is far from their fault the problems centring around the aggressive packaging of their cooling and Renualt power unit can only be seen in hindsight as a complete own goal by the team. Their status as the de facto Renault works team should mean these kind of issues are bypassed in the early months of the 2014 design.

Therefore at this point of the season it seems incredible to state that Red Bull are not 100% sure of the potential of their 2014 RB10, a sign of the little amount of meaningful laps they’ve done this winter. On the driving front whilst it may appear that 4 time world champion Sebastien Vettel currently has slim hopes of retaining his title 2014 will for sure show his commitment and talent as he drags the car higher up than it realistically should be, a talent shared by only the greats. Alongside him new recruit Daniel Ricciardo has the unenviable task of attempting to keep pace with Vettel in the first season of his promotion from the junior Toro Rosso team to the Red Bull team. His speed is without question yet his consistency is something he will need to improve on if he’s to challenge Vettel over a season. It should be interesting to see how these two matchup and whether Ricciardo can match Mark Webber’s level of competitiveness in relation to Vettel.

2013 saw a vast improvement from AMG Mercedes as they finally reached the level of competitiveness many F1 fans expected from the works outfit. 2014 is their first genuine attempt at the title as the new 1.6 Litre Turbo engine regulations were something circled by the team as their chance to steal a march on the rest. Mercedes has always been seen as having potentially the strongest engine in F1 and in 2014 this appears to be no different. Since the first day of testing the team has looked by far the best at this early stage. They were the first team to complete a race simulation at the first test in Jerez, yet they have also been consistently topping the times . The only slight concern for the team is some reliability issues at the two Bahrain tests yet many tip them to both win the first race in Australia and simultaneously the title too.

Their driver line up of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is the most stable of the top teams, some even argue it’s the strongest line up too. Lewis Hamilton is widely regarded as the fastest driver in F1 yet the new 100kg fuel allocation rule for 2014 will not suit his premium on speed. The new regulations and tyres mean drivers now have to manage races not simply race, this is far more suited to the more thinking style of Nico Rosberg. 2013 showed his can match Hamilton over the course of the season as he took 2 wins to the 1 of Hamilton. 2014 should be interesting to watch the dynamic between the two friends over the course of the season.

Ferrari appear to be rejuvenated in 2014 as it appears they head into the season with the “best of the rest” tag behind the leading Mercedes teams. Whilst like everyone else they’ve suffered with reliability problems this winter their all star line up of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen have logged plenty of laps . The car appears to be a slight handful to drive however their level of preparation means realistically they can expect to easily be in the top 10 and possibly fighting for podiums and wins over the course of the season. The internal sense is one of optimism this season as it appears they have finally overcome the wind tunnel problems that have derailed previous seasons.

Lotus-Renualt ended 2013 as the only challenger to the Red Bull steamroller yet their winter could not gone much worse for the team. Firstly their well publicised funding issues during 2013 meant that the team was late in finishing it’s 2014 E22 challenger, resulting in them completely missing the first test in Jerez. Between this announcement and the actually first test things got worse however as they lost their team principal Eric Boullier, who accepted a effective team principal in the newly restructured McLaren team. Further compounding this is the chronic problems with the new Renault power unit, which have severely restricted the amount of running all their teams can do. Whilst they showed during the two Bahrain tests that they were the consensus best of the Renault teams the team have admitted they do not go into the season with confidence as to their reliability. Their speed could potentially drag them into the lower reaches of the top 10 during the early part of the season. For the time being however both drivers Romain Grosjean,Pastor Maldonado and effective team principal Gerard Lopez have their work cut out in making the team competitive.

After a lacklustre 2013 McLaren have made widespread changes in the hope of returning to the front in 2014. Firstly the team jettisoned Sergio Perez after only one year, replacing him with young hotshot Kevin Magnussen to partner the experienced Jenson Button. Experience is the name of the game with the new personnel too as Ron Dennis has re-taken control of the racing team, his first major step was to effectively replace team principal Martin Whitmarsh with Eric Boullier. From the three winter test it’s appears they have the third fastest package behind Mercedes and Williams. The strength of the Mercedes power unit has allowed them to rack up a lot of laps this winter, however the power unit could also be there undoing this season as their new 2015 deal with Honda means the team will be getting the bare minimum treatment from Mercedes, fearful their secrets will be passed onto Honda.

Sahara-Force India have encountered a relatively quiet winter going into 2014 as they have managed to simply blend into the background. Their lack of eye catching times is probably because they’ve sensibly focused more on long distance running and attempting to understand the VJM07. Whilst there have been some problems with the car this winter the teams appears to be in a similar position to 2013, consistently in the lower reaches of the top 10 with the power to surprise. This surprise factor is boosted in 2014 with the return of ace Nico Hulkenberg, thwarted by money he is by far the best young driver on the grid and his return will only boost the team. The same goes for Sergio Perez who will be hoping to prove McLaren were wrong to drop his last season. Watch out for this team to spring an early surprise this season.

Sauber typically prefer quiet winter off-season’s and this year is no exception. The new C33-Ferrari challenger has appeared solid with the only spectacular moments being the occasional engine blowup. The car has logged a significant number of laps, yet still well below front runners Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari. The driver line up of Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil is again solid if unspectacular, yet expect them to get the job done early on in 2014 as they aim to capitalise on their current levels of preparation in comparison to the other teams. Because of their small budget the team is always going to be a midfield outfit yet like Force India expect them to shock with their results early on especially from Sutil.

Scuderia Toro Rosso head into 2014 suffering from the same problem their senior outfit Red Bull is enduring. Their new engine deal to bring them in line with the senior Red Bull team has came at completely the wrong time as Renault appear to have made a hash of their 2014 engine. The team has therefore been severely limited in the amount of laps they’ve run, meaning the team have admitted this year the Australian GP has came a month too early for the team to be ready. Therefore expect them to get better during the season, however the first few races may be fairly frustrating for drivers Jean Eric Vergne and especially rookie Daniil Kvyat.

After a disastrous 2013 season the Williams team appear to have made a giant early leap forward in 2014. Firstly this the first year the team have Pat Symonds at the helm, his vast experience will be a massive help to a team finding it’s way after 2013. The team has also recruited a lot of talented people from up and down the grid, Rob Smedley being the marquee signing so far. The team also has a talented driver line up of the experienced Felipe Massa and talented rookie Valtteri Bottas. Their deal for Mercedes engines came at the perfect time as they racked up an abundance of laps whilst also showing their speed thanks to the march Mercedes has on the others. Based on this winter expect the team to be fighting to poles and wins as they look so far the closest challenger to Mercedes.

Marussia achieved their 2013 target of beating Caterham yet for 2014 they spot the opportunity to move up the grid. Their new Ferrari power deal has already seen them steal a march on Renualt powered Caterham. So far the car has proven to be slightly unreliable yet also fast and based on their form in testing it appears they could potentially be scoring points in the early races if their MR03 car holds together. The retention of 2013 driver line up in Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton can only help the team develop in 2014, expect them to cause a surprise at some point this season.

Finally we have Caterham, the bottom team from 2013 sadly appears as if it might stay that way in 2014. Their winter has been severely disrupted by the well known problems with the Renault power unit. When their CT04 car has ventured on track it has appeared a handful and has failed to register any noticeably fast laps during the three tests. This may have severe repercussions as team principal Tony Fernandes has threatened to pull out of the sport unless things improve in 2014. This therefore does not bode well for the all new line up of fan favourite Kamui Kobayashi and rookie Marcus Ericsson. Indeed at one point Kobayashi compared his cars pace to that of a junior level GP2 car, by far a ringing endorsement for their hopes in 2014.

Of course testing can throw plenty of red herrings and I would expect a number of teams to have risen or fallen back in the pack once the meaningful running begins in Australia. This season preview and all of my predictions are simply based on my impression of the winter running of all the teams. Thanks for reading this blog, more like essay. Enjoy.

Whilst the papers and sporting media will focus on transfers,coaches on the hot seat or game results behind these headlines there is an unseen sporting revolution unfolding before our very eyes. This revolution has little to do with anything that the sporting media thrust forward as headlines, indeed funnily enough it has little to do with actual sport itself. This revolution centers around sports athletes decisions to publicize personal matters around their private life. A player’s sexuality is rarely focused on however sport remains one of the last bastions for sexism. Yet various athletes across a multitude of sports are collectively breaking down these barriers in the last few years.

The issue of athletes sexuality is  topical this week with yesterday’s brave announcements of being gay by both England Women’s football captain Casey Stoney and NFL draft prospect Michael Sam. They are far from the first athletes to make these announcements yet the fact they are the first active players in their sports to make this announcement is a big step both culturally and in their respective sports. The outpouring of collective support both of them have received show that many are happy to see these breakthrough’s. However whilst many athletes and fans are supportive of these decisions it appears for some sports are still unwilling to support this breakthrough.

Indeed when asked anonymously how his announcement would affect the draft position  many NFL General Manager’s agreed that it would negatively affect his draft status and therefore his initial earning potential. In simple terms, the later your drafted the less money a player gets with their rookie contract.

Whilst before this announcement Sam was seen as a solid 3rd round pick based on his defensive ability, shown by the fact he was the SEC defensive player of the year in 2013 for his Missouri college team. Yet it appears now he is perceived as a risk for some teams, who are fearful his sexuality may be divisive in the “macho” locker room environment. These fears were heightened with the drama surrounding the alleged bullying  scandal between players Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin that rocked the Miami Dolphins franchise late last year. Some teams now have pushed Sam down their draft boards as the media circus that will follow potentially the first active gay NFL player and locker room culture will prove to be difficult situations to manage for a team.

It is clear however that the NFL and all of it’s teams are not homophobic despite how it may appear their reasoning for Sam’s draft position falling is simply teams are unwilling to put up with the baggage associated with such a revolutionary player. Indeed, things are not much better for another major American sport as NBA player Jason Collins has struggled to find a team since publicly revealing he was gay in May 2013. Whilst his age and production over the last few years are obvious factors surrounding why he remains a free agent, there are rumors that his sexuality and again the baggage surrounding it is a factor behind his free agent status.

For gay athletes it’s not all doom and gloom however with just as many positive stories as there are of negative one’s. Football is a prime example of a sport moving with the times in terms of the acceptance and support for homosexuals. An example of this are the contrasting reactions to football players Justin Fashanu and Robbie Rogers announcements regarding their sexuality. When Fashanu revealed he was gay in October 1990 he was publicly and professionally ridiculed by both fans and opposing players and managers. Although never proven it appears his announcement was at the very least a contributing factor behind him not receiving any contracts from teams after he publicly announced he was gay, this despite him being the first £1 million pound black English player. His subsequent ordeal led to a tragic ending with his suicide in May 1998.

For Robbie Rogers the reaction was vastly different when he announced to the world he was gay in February 2013 he was held up as a hero to many with floods of goodwill messages towards him and his courageous announcement a perfect example of the complete sea change within football with  regards to homosexual players and acceptance of their sexuality within the game.

There have been notable examples of players in other sports breaking the barriers with regards to sexuality in sport with Tom Daley and Casey Stoney receiving widespread support for their sexuality when they announced it in December 2013 and February 2014 respectively.  An increasing amount of sports have trailblazers such as Daley, Stoney, Sam or Rodgers amongst their ranks which is a hugely inspirational and revolutionary step towards the removal of sexism from sports. Whilst the revolution is not yet complete the acceptance of everyone as equal within sport for the first time is gathering pace.

They started out with a couple of guitars and a shared dream of reaching Arcadia, yet only after achieving their dreams of success did the relationship between them break down to the point of mutual hatred. What had happened to The Libertines? How did a band that were once the laughing stock of record company offices become Britain’s first cultural icon’s of the 21st century?

Led by the unique and intimate friendship between co-frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat The Libertines were heralded as the successors to Oasis as the leaders of British rock/indie music. Yet only 3 years after being signed by legendary British Indie record label Rough Trade the band split up after various infighting. Why did such an influential band implode just as they achieved mainstream success?

From the outside 2003 was proving to be a good year for The Libertines. Their debut album Up The Bracket had achieved critical success and  magazines such as the NME were hailing them as the next big things for British music. Yet behind the scenes all was not well with The Libertines as Doherty increasingly felt that he was alone in respect to taking the band seriously, exasperating this was a period where Carl Barat would often go out in London to find what he later described as “the movers and shakers” , often bringing strangers home with him to carry on their party.

The anger Pete felt at this time was numbed with a significant increasing in his drug abuse. Whilst other members in the band had occasionally took drugs in the past Doherty’s increasing use of crack cocaine and heroine led to increasing tensions in the bad during the recording of Up The Bracket. This tension continued into 2003, reaching critical mass around the time of Barat’s birthday in June. Doherty was deeply hurt when Barat didn’t attend his celebration gig, refusing to take part in their European tour . After finding out the band left for a Japanese tour without him things reached fever pitch when a distraught Doherty burgled Barat’s flat and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 6 months in prison (afterwards reduced on appeal to 2 months).

Doherty’s period of incarceration appeared to vastly improve his relationship with the band with Barat waiting outside the prison gates for him, even managing a comeback gig that same night.  Again the outside perception of increasing mainstream success appeared the reality as their string of gigs at the London Forum in December 2003 became “I was there moments” for the fans in a similar manner to how Spike Island 1990 felt for Stone Roses fans or how Knebworth 1996 felt for the legions of Oasis fans.  Afterwards these gigs were frequently used by music journalists to explain the significance of The Libertines for breaking down barriers between fans and bands as each night saw stage invasions . The band’s success morphed into 2004 with a Spring UK tour receiving rave reviews from fans and journalists alike.

The time had come for their second album yet it would prove to be their last. Tension’s flared again as Doherty’s ongoing drug addictions hampered recording. The protracted recording time only increased the tension between Doherty and Barat, to the point of bodyguards being used to keep them apart during the album process. Because of their close relationship with fans the troubles were soon common knowledge with the ticking time-bomb as The Libertines were now seen coming close to detonation by the end of the album recording process in Summer 2004. Indeed, this proved an awkward period as by the time of the album’s release in late August 2004 the relationship between Barat and Doherty had broken down completely to the point of mutual hatred. The Libertines had jettisoned Doherty by this point yet it quickly became apparent the band had lost their major spark as they struggled on the rest of 2004.

Ironically, the band’s best selling single was “Can’t Stand Me Now”, a autobiographical depiction of the once deeply intimate and close relationship between Doherty and Barat breaking up. Doherty later described the lyrics as being intended as ” a Beckett like dramatic statement of intent on both mine and Carl’s parts, yet in reality it’s more a sort of play for today.” Barat would also later describe the song as being “an awkward one to sing.”

In conclusion it appears that the mainstream success the band achieved affected Doherty in a major way to the point that he felt the need to escape it all which is where his drug abuse started. This abuse then led to both professional and personal tension between him and Barat, with their easy compatibility also meaning feelings of jealousy and anger an everyday part of their relationship. These feelings were exaggerated as Doherty’s life was increasingly controlled by drugs which seems to have worried and scared Barat a great deal. Whilst the relationship ultimately ended in despair and sadness a sign of it once love and intimacy were revealed as Barat admitting to considering becoming a heroine addict himself simply to remain close to Pete.

This story of sadness and betrayal does however have a happy ending as The Libertines announced their comeback in early 2010 by headlining Leeds and Reading festival. The sold out shows were a must see for fans of music not simply The Libertines which shows their ultimate significance to British music, and in my opinion what a fucking great band they were.

Last week at the results of a meeting between the F1 strategy group and the Formula One Commission were published by the FIA. Whilst a number of new sporting regulations were revealed it was one in particular that grabbed the headlines. The FIA announced that the final race of the F1 season, for 2014 it’s the Abu Dhabi GP, will now be a double points race for drivers to teams.

The explanation behind this drastic move was to increase the likeliness of a final race title showdown’s. Many journalists and fans of F1 has condemned this latest move as simply another gimmick to spice up “The Show” as F1 is increasingly referred to within the paddock.This argument appears to have some merit with other recent examples of what can be considered “gimmicks” are the deliberate introduction of tyre’s with  a short life span when Pirelli entered the sport in 2011 and the introduction of the DRS system, also in 2011, to aid overtaking by allowing cars within a second of each other to open their rear wing and therefore significantly increase their straight line speed.

On the other hand this double points final race will inevitably increase the future likelihood of a final race title showdown which is subsequently improve future numbers of television audiences  which then means more money for F1. The main reason for the level of criticism this rule has received center’s on the viewpoint of many F1 fans and journalists that this is simply an artificial “gimmick” to improve the racing. What is telling about this recent uproar is the fact drivers and teams are speaking out in criticism of this rule when usually they offer the words “no comment” to press reporters quizzing them about it. Indeed, Lotus went as far as posting a picture of their version of the 2014 rules openly mocking the new rule changes on their official Twitter page a few days after it was introduced. Current world champion Sebastien Vettel also described the double points rule as “absurd”   showing the utter contempt many within F1 feel towards the new double points rule.

Whilst many of the media will focus their reports on the polarising double points rule this was not the only rule changes announced by the FIA last week. Indeed, there have been a flurry of support for the other rule changes with the most popular appearing to be that from 2014 a driver will get to choose the number they will carry for their F1 career. This has been introduced by the FIA to make it easier for fans to follow certain drivers in races as a result of the fact many drivers now change their helmets for a majority of F1 races which has made it increasingly difficult for fans to find their favourite drivers when watching the races. Another upside for this new rule in the eye’s of particularly nostalgic F1 fans is the fact that it conjurs up images of the fantastically brave Gilles Villeneuve in his red Ferrari with the number 27 on the rear wing or even pictures of Nigel Mansell and the iconic Red 5 number that adorned his car for most of his career.

Something else that was introduced for 2014 by the FIA last week was a new 5 second penalty, which is to used for minor incidents during Grand Prix weekend’s . This was brought in because it was felt that for some incidents a drive through penalty, the previously smallest possible punishment, did not fit the crime and was too much of a hindrance on a driver’s race. This appears to be a sensible decision by the FIA as I would tend to agree that sometimes in the last few seasons a driver’s race has been ruined by a drive-through penalty.

A new and hugely significant step was taken for the 2015 last week also as the FIA announced that they plan to introduce a Cost Cap in F1 as a way to make F1 more sustainable. This is something that has been announced before yet has never happened however so whilst this is a good first step the FIA need to ensure this cost cap is fully implemented because many teams on the F 1 are increasingly struggling with finances as is evidenced by the rise in drivers bringing funding to teams these past few seasons.

Finally, from 2015 to the current day as the final rule change was to allow Pirelli to conduct a 3 day tyre test starting today, December 17th, at Bahrain with every team being invited. However,  only 6 teams have agreed to take part with those being Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Sahara-Force India and Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Before the 2013 F1 season had even finished the talk in the paddock began on the driver market for the 2014 season. Whilst moves such as Kimi Raikkonen’s surprise return to Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo’s promotion to Red Bull in 2014 have stolen the headlines, it the moves further down the grid which have the most long term significance on F1. In the last few years F1 has increasingly felt the financial pinch, however the 2013 season showed that the financial climate was only getting worse in F1 as stories developed through the season of star Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen not being paid at all in 2013 , and the Sauber team which needed significant Russian investment to even see out the season. This naturally has meant that finance is becoming the primary attribute teams are looking for from their 2014 drivers.

The most high profile example of these financial considerations was the ongoing Nico Hulkenberg to Lotus saga which dragged on for the final few months of the season. Whilst both were happy to team up together the deal became dependent on heavy investment from the mysterious Quantam motorsport group.Without this investment the cash-strapped team would be forced to take on a driver with financial backing for 2014. Whilst many deadlines were set the investment kept being delayed until the saga was finally put to bed last Friday when they announced Pastor Maldonado as team mate to Romain Grosjean for 2014.

Whilst Maldonado is already a Grand Prix winner with Williams in 2012 his temperament has been heavily questioned in the paddock and is believed to have been a significant factor in Williams decision to replace him despite it meaning a loss of his vast to PDVSA state oil dollars to the Lotus team.  Meanwhile for Hulkenberg, tipped by many as a future world champion, announced yesterday a move back to the Sahara Force-India team for 2014 . This move can be widely viewed as a good second choice for Hulkneberg who clearly would have preferred to have been in a race winning Lotus for 2014 , yet his lack of sponsorship dollars appears to be the only thing holding him back from a title contending drive which he clearly deserves.

Although Force-India are backed by wealthy businessman Vijay Mallaya they too are not immune from the financial crisis in F1 as their 2014 line-up appears to be motivated in part by finance . Whilst Nico Hulkenberg was clearly signed on merit it appears the second seat may be going to the highest bidder as the rumors suggest they are set to replace highly talented Paul Di Resta for 2014 with Sergio Perez , who brings a wealth of Telmex support. Whilst it is difficult to judge the talents of both individuals as they have shown they have supreme talent and deserve a decent drive in F1 the tie break clincher in this case appears to be the high level of sponsorship Perez can bring compared to Di Resta.  The current state of F1 must be hard to swallow for Di Resta who was being tipped for the second Ferrari or McLaren drive only a year ago yet now it appears he is unlikely to be on the F1 grid in 2014.

The team with the most pressing financial concerns of 2013 was surely the Sauber team who have built a reputation in F1 for delivering good results on an underfunded budget. Part of the deal for their Russian investment during the midway point of the season appears to be the fact they will promote rookie , and son of one of the investors , Sergey Sirotkin to a race drive in 2014 , however this is dependent on his ability to gain a superelicence over the winter. Whilst Sirotkin has proven to have talent during his 2013 World Series by Renault season the 18 year old appears to need several more years of experience before he could gain a berth in F1 on talent alone.  The second seat with the team appears to be also highly dependent on finance with firstly Adrian Sutil being the rumored favorite for the drive. Whilst he has shown promise on his return to F1 with Force-India in 2013 he was out-performed by Di Resta comfortably , it appears his sponsorship is the most enticing prospect to any team for 2014. The other outside contenders for the drive appear to be a return for either Sergio Perez or Esteban Gutierrez. Both are heavily backed by Carlos Slim and Telmex and both have driven for Sauber in the past . From these two it appears more likely Perez will be signed if he does not get the second Force-India drive.

Other moves such as Felipe Massa’s to Williams have drawn much less attention yet whilst he is an experienced and fast racing driver it appears his Brazilian backing was at the very least a plus point for the Williams who are still reeling from the loss of Maldonado’s state PDVSA funds, despite a settlement being agreed between both parties to end the relationship it appears highly unlikely this would be the same as the 40 million dollars sum they previously enjoyed from PDVSA.

Finally the ‘new’ teams are also feeling the pinch at the back of the grid as the chances of Marussia keeping Max  Chilton on for 2014 to partner the rapid Jules Bianchi appear to be dependent on his continued financial backing he brought to the team in 2014. Also the Caterham line-up for 2014 appears to center on the retention of rapid rookie Geido Van Der Garde , who also brings a healthy amount of Dutch backing to the team. This finance his brings appears to be a major factor in the decision for the second drive as it appears that if the team does not need much further backing to survive in 2014 they will take Heikki Kovalainen back after dumping him for Van Der Garde in 2013. If the team however needs another driver with backing it appears Charles Pic will retain his drive with the team.

In conclusion, the driver market for the 2014 season is heavily influenced by financial demands and this in my opinion is having a negative effect on F1 as it means that firstly drivers like Nico Hulkenberg are being denied the race winning drives they deserve meanwhile an even worse fact appears that even talented drivers such as Paul Di Resta appear to be off the grid for 2014. This to me shows how the financial demands teams need from drivers is allowing some drivers to attain F1 drives despite their talent not being enough to get the into F1 on it’s own yet drivers with the opposite situation are denied the F1 drives their talents should deserve and realistically expect.This is a very worrying time for F1 indeed.