2014 Season Review: Marussia

The 2014 season saw the Marussia team move up from tenth place to ninth place in the Constructors Championship. The 2013 season saw the team clinch tenth place in the Constructors Championship in front of their rivals Caterham after Jules Bianchi's thirteenth place finish at Malaysian Grand Prix secured them a top 10 constructor's finish for the first time in their history.

In order to build on what they had achieved in 2013, this season saw some changes for Marussia. For the first time, both of the previous season's drivers would be retained. Max Chilton brought cash to the team, whilst Jules Bianchi brought the second change.

Following Cosworth's withdrawal from the sport at the end of the 2013 season, Marussia moved to Ferrari engines which was in part financed due to Bianchi being a member of the Ferrari Young Driver Programme.

From as early as pre-season testing it was apparent Marussia made progress however it remained to be seen whether the Banbury based team could score their maiden Formula One points. The 2014 car appeared to be a major improvement on the 2013 model, with Chilton qualifying the MR03 in 17th place at the opening round, one place ahead of his team-mate. They beat Gutierrez's Sauber, Ericsson's Caterham and both Lotus cars.

The race proved to be troublesome for the Marussia team. Max Chilton stalled on the formation lap, forcing him to start from the pits. Bianchi then stalled on the grid, forcing him to follow his team-mate there and causing an aborted start. Ultimately, Chilton finished last of the runners in thirteenth place, whilst Bianchi ended his race 8 laps early meaning he was not classified.

In the next race in Malaysia, we saw once again saw Chilton finish last of the runners and Jules Bianchi retiring from the race due to accident damage caused by a scuffle with Maldonado on the opening lap forcing Bianchi out. In Bahrain, we saw both Marussias occupy 2 of the last 3 places with Bianchi in 20th and Chilton last. Although the race will be remembered for its thrills up front between the Force India's, Mercedes and Ricciardo, Chilton once again had a good drive. He came home in thirteenth place again, whilst Bianchi finished a lap down in sixteenth place.

In the next few races, China and Spain brought no luck to the team either, but Monaco proved special.

Despite qualifying in nineteenth and twentieth places, Marussia had their best ever weekend in the principality. It was Chilton's turn again to finish last of the runners, but further up the field Jules Bianchi was putting in a storming drive.

He overtook car after car, putting in many a brave move that showed that he is without question a potential talent of the future, to come home in ninth place and give the team their first ever points. Not only that, the team moved up to 9th in the constructors' championship for the first time in their history, a position they maintained after the final race of the year.

At this point of the season, Max Chilton had never failed to finish a Grand Prix so far in his career, until Canada when the pride of Monaco was wiped out on the opening lap. Chilton collided with Bianchi on the opening lap that forced both drivers out straight away and leaving the team's faces as red as their livery.

Before the summer break, Marussia finished in fifteenth and seventeenth in Austria but at Silverstone with wet weather playing a part during the weekend, Bianchi and Chilton made it into Q2 after both Ericsson and Kobayashi were eliminated in Q1 and were were joined by both Ferraris and the two Williams!

Bianchi and Chilton would go on to finish twelfth and thirteenth places in qualifying on Sunday although Chilton dropped 5 places for a gearbox change. But once again on race day, Bianchi proved strong and finished in fourteenth place ahead of Chilton who finished in sixteenth places.

The next race in Germany proved to be a reality check for the team, but Hungary saw yet another surprise in qualifying. Bianchi managed to knock the works Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen out of qualifying which allowed the Marussia to qualify in the top 16 for the second time in three races. He improved to 15th in the race, followed home by Chilton as F1 headed into its summer break.

As we headed back from the summer break, wet weather once again played its part in the qualifying session for the Belgian GP. This then once again allowed Jules Bianchi to qualify in the top 16. Sadly, he retired early in the race with gearbox problems, whilst team mate Chilton did make it to the end and finished the race in Bianchi's starting position of sixteenth place.

The characteristics of the Monza circuit did Marussia no favours at all, with the Ferrari power unit struggling on the long straights with the car's low aero efficiency. This continued into the next race in Singapore which gave the Marussia team little to cheer about either with the high downforce needed on the track, as well as straight line speed which meant their drivers finished last and second to last.

And now, we come to the tragic Japanese Grand Prix. A dry qualifying session on Saturday saw Bianchi line up in twentieth place and Chilton in twenty-second place, but the team were hoping that the soaking conditions at Suzuka for the race would allow them to move up the field.

The race was abandoned after Jules Bianchi aquaplaned on Lap 44. He spun off the track and hit a recovery tractor that was attempting to clear Adrian Sutil's Sauber. Jules was taken to hospital unconscious, where he was put into an artificial coma on life support. The latest news is that, although he is still critical and unconscious, Jules is out of the coma and breathing on his own. He has also been moved to a hospital Nice, nearer his home.

And this is the last race I need to write about for this review which is the inaugural Russian GP in Sochi. Sochi was a very sombre place just a week after Bianchi's crash and with everyone's thoughts with Jules and his family at this difficult time.

Marussia opted to run with just 1 car, that of Max Chilton, whilst Jules' MR03 was ready to go in the garage as a mark of respect to their driver. It was an even more miserable weekend for the team. Chilton qualified last and failed to finish the race.

After the Russian GP Marussia along with their rivals Caterham, were placed into administration. The administrators have announced that the team has ceased trading, with their assets up for auction this month and so it sadly looks as though Marussia will not be seen again on the grid in Formula One.

Jules Bianchi 2 points/ 17th in the Driver's Championship

This season saw Jules Bianchi continuing the impressive form from 2013 into this season. It was believed that this would be Bianchi's last season at Marussia, with the Ferrari academy driver looking to move on from the team that gave him his début to pastures found higher up the grid.

His ninth place finish at Monaco secured his and the team's only points to date, ensuring that Marussia finished a team-record ninth place in the Constructors' battle too.

During the course of the season, Bianchi has comprehensively beaten his teammate Max Chilton in both qualifying and the race. More often than not, Bianchi has found finds himself battling midfield runners Sauber and Lotus showing he has the speed and talent to race for a better team if the opportunity arose.

Bianchi scored his first ever points for himself and the Marussia team at the Monaco Grand Prix after consistently outperforming their rivals in the first five races of the season. During the course of the race Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutierrez were three of the names which retired from the race ultimately promoting Bianchi into the points paying positions, despite pressure from Grosjean and Vergne during the latter stages of the race, Bianchi kept his cool to score the teams first points.

The next race in Canada saw Bianchi retiring from the race due to a collision on the first lap with his team mate. Bianchi bounced back with three fifteenth place finishes in Austria, Germany and Hungary and a fourteenth place finish at Silverstone before the summer break. Hungary springs to mind especially after Bianchi qualified in sixteenth place knocking out works Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen. This then ignited speculation in the paddock that Bianchi could be the man to replace Raikkonen when the Finn finally decides to retire.

During the mid-season test at Silverstone, Bianchi got the opportunity to drive for Ferrari as Raikkonen was injured after a major crash on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix. Bianchi took full advantage of the opportunity and topped the time-sheets in the process.

In the second half of the season, Bianchi suffered a dip in form with two eighteenth place finishes in Belgium and Italy despite once again for the second time this season reaching the second segment of qualifying with a stunning qualifying performance at the Spa circuit. Once again, Bianchi finished ahead of his team mate in Singapore with a sixteenth place finish.

Once again, we have seen Bianchi taking what he has achieved in his rookie season in the sport last year and build upon this with some stunning performances that have seen him outperform not only his team mate but also Marussia's nearest rivals on the grid.

Unfortunately, Bianchi would not see the end of the season after a horrific crash in the closing stages of the Japanese Grand Prix. As I have mentioned earlier in this review, Jules is still critical and unconscious, but he is out of the coma and breathing on his own. He has also been moved to a hospital Nice, nearer his home and our thoughts and prayers at Driving for Pleasure are still with him and his family during this difficult time.

Max Chilton 0 points / 21th in Driver's Championship

Whilst he does bring money to the Marussia team, Chilton certainly found his way in 2014. Even though there were noticeable gaps between Jules and Max at times last season, this season saw Chilton steadily improving as the gap to Bianchi came down.

In the first half of the season, Chilton was outperformed by his team mate during the races with his best finishes of thirteenth places in Australia and Bahrain compared to his team mate who scored Marussia's first points with a stunning performance in Monaco to finish ninth.

In the next race in Canada, he took both himself and his team-mate out at Montreal, causing his first ever DNF and providing the Marussia team a reality check following the highs of Monaco in the last race. As we headed into the summer break, Chilton managed to achieve two seventeenth place finishes in Austria and Germany and two sixteenth place finishes at Silverstone and Hungary.

In the second half of the season, Chilton managed to beat his team mate in Belgium with a sixteenth place finish, retired in Italy and finished in seventeenth and eighteenth places in Singapore and Japan.

Just a week after Bianchi's tragic crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, Chilton participated in the Russian Grand Prix. His retirement from the race added to the tough time the team would face especially as they were not seen on the grid racing again for the rest of the season.

After a consistent and steady first year in Formula One, Chilton had to impress in 2014. Unfortunately for him, he is alongside one of the most exciting young talents on the grid in Jules Bianchi.

Despite finishing every race in his Formula One career except the Canadian Grand Prix (where he crashed into Bianchi) there have not been too many highs for him this season where he suffered seven retirements. Chilton's best finish of the season came at the season opener in Australia where he finished in thirteenth place compared to his team mate In Monaco who finished in ninth place and scored two points for the Marussia team.

I will admit that even though Chilton has been out qualified and outperformed by Bianchi throughout the season consistently, he is a consistent and reliable pair of hands to bring the car home and he has improved from his first season in the sport but it still sadly wasn't enough to challenge Bianchi.

In conclusion, 2014 has proved to be the toughest yet most successful season for the Marussia team. They've experienced the highs of scoring their first ever points at Monaco, to the deepest pits of Bianchi's awful accident in Japan and then to entering administration.

Marussia clearly improved on their previous efforts which has been highlighted with their ninth place finish ahead of Sauber and their main rivals Caterham. The stunning and consistent performances from Bianchi in particular have allowed Marussia to have their best and last season in the sport.

With the Marussia team auctioning their assets this month after failing to secure new ownership or investment; it is a sad end to their season. But if the team make it to the grid in 2015, they have a very good base to build from but I sadly don't see this happening.

But all I can say is that Marussia will continue to live on in Formula One through their results that they have achieved in the sport throughout their history and also in the hearts of their dedicated fans alongside many fans of the sport who will miss the team as we head into the 2015 season.

Sarah Jones