2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Explained

The 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across Europe. The championship featured drivers competing in 3.5 litre Formula Renault single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the tenth Formula Renault 3.5 Series season organized by Renault Sport. The season began at the Monza Circuit on 12 April and finished on 19 October at Circuito de Jerez. The series formed part of the World Series by Renault meetings at seven double header events, with additional events held at Monza (double header) and a single race in support of the .

Carlos Sainz Jr. clinched the championship title with seven race wins, after his compatriot and rival Roberto Merhi retired in the penultimate race of the season.^[1] Sainz Jr. also became the first Red Bull Junior Team driver to win the championship. Merhi was the only other driver to score more than two wins, but he lost the runner-up position to Pierre Gasly – another Red Bull backed driver – after retiring in the second Jerez race. Fortec Motorsports driver Oliver Rowland won races at Alcañiz and Jerez, finishing fourth. His teammate Sergey Sirotkin completed the top five with a win on home soil at Moscow Raceway. Will Stevens and Norman Nato were the other drivers to achieve race wins in the season; Stevens won at Monza and Jerez, bookending the season, while Nato was the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix support race, and also won at the Hungaroring.

Teams and drivers

Team Driver name Status Rounds DAMS[2] 1 Carlos Sainz Jr.[3] All 2 Norman Nato All Fortec Motorsports 3 Sergey Sirotkin[4] All 4 Oliver Rowland[5] All International Draco Racing 5 Pietro Fantin[6] All 6 Luca Ghiotto[7] All Arden Motorsport 7 Pierre Gasly[8] All 8 William Buller[9] All Tech 1 Racing 9 Marco Sørensen[10] All 10 Alfonso Celis Jr.[11] 6 Nicholas Latifi[12] 7–9 Strakka Racing 11 Will Stevens[13] All 12 Matias Laine[14] All Lotus 15 Marlon Stöckinger[15] All 16 Matthieu Vaxivière[16] 1–3, 6–9 Richie Stanaway[17] 4–5 ISR 17 Jazeman Jaafar[18] All AVF 19 Beitske Visser[19] All 20 Zoël Amberg[20] All Zeta Corse 21 Roman Mavlanov[21] 1–7, 9 22 Roberto Merhi All Pons Racing 25 Oliver Webb[22] 1–3 Óscar Tunjo[23] 4–9 26 Meindert van Buuren[24] All Comtec Racing 27 Nikolay Martsenko[25] 1–2 Cameron Twynham 6–8 28 Andrea Roda[26] 3 Esteban Ocon[27] 7–8

Driver changes

Changed teams

• After two seasons with Pons Racing, Zoël Amberg switched to the AVF team.^[20]
• William Buller, who raced a part-season with Zeta Corse in 2013, moved to Arden Motorsport.^[9]
• Pietro Fantin, who drove for Arden Caterham in 2013, switched to International Draco Racing.^[6]
• Jazeman Jaafar changed teams from Carlin to ISR.^[18]
• Nikolay Martsenko switched from Pons Racing to Comtec Racing.^[25]
• Carlos Sainz Jr. who raced a part-season with Zeta Corse in 2013 alongside his GP3 Series campaign, moved to the DAMS team.^[3]
• Sergey Sirotkin switched from ISR to Fortec Motorsports.^[4]
• Lotus F1 test driver Marco Sørensen moved to Tech 1 Racing after two years with Lotus.^[10]
• Oliver Webb, who raced with Fortec Motorsports in 2013, returned for the Monza round of the series with Pons Racing. Webb competed with the team in 2011.^[22]

Entering/Re–Entering FR3.5

• Pierre Gasly, the 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion, joined the series with Arden Motorsport.^[8]
• Formula Renault 2.0 Alps runner-up and sporadic Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 racer Luca Ghiotto made his Formula Renault 3.5 début with International Draco Racing.^[7]
• Eurocup Formula Renault driver Roman Mavlanov and DTM driver Roberto Merhi moved to the championship with Zeta Corse.^[21]
• Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 runner-up Oliver Rowland joined British team Fortec Motorsports.^[5]
• Auto GP driver Meindert van Buuren graduated to the series with Pons Racing.^[24]
• Matthieu Vaxivière, who finished tenth in the 2013 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, entered the championship with Lotus.^[16]
• Beitske Visser, who raced in ADAC Formel Masters, made her début in the series with AVF.^[19]

Leaving FR3.5

• Riccardo Agostini, who raced for Zeta Corse in one meeting in 2013, moved to the European Formula 3 Championship with EuroInternational.^[28]
• 2010 champion Mikhail Aleshin, who drove for Tech 1 Racing in 2013, moved to the IndyCar Series for 2014, racing for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.^[29]
• António Félix da Costa, who finished third for Arden Caterham in 2013, joined the DTM series with BMW.^[30]
• Carlos Huertas, who drove for Carlin in 2013, moved to the IndyCar Series for 2014 driving for Dale Coyne Racing.
• Kevin Magnussen, the 2013 champion with DAMS, graduated to Formula One, replacing Sergio Pérez at McLaren.^[31]
• Nico Müller, who finished fifth for International Draco Racing in 2013, moved to the DTM series with Audi.^[32]
• André Negrão, who drove for International Draco Racing in 2013, joined the GP2 Series with Arden International.^[33]
• Arthur Pic, who drove for AV Formula in 2013, entered the GP2 Series with Campos Racing.^[34]
• Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished second for Fortec Motorsports in 2013, joined the GP2 Series with ART Grand Prix.

Mid-season changes

• Tech 1 Racing fielded their second car for Alfonso Celis Jr., who made his series début at the Nürburgring.^[11] At the Hungaroring and the Circuit Paul Ricard, the seat was occupied by Nicholas Latifi.^[12]
• Nikolay Martsenko left the series prior the Monaco round due to financial issues.^[35]
• Andrea Roda joined Comtec Racing for the round in Monaco.^[26]
• Cameron Twynham joined Comtec Racing for the round at the Nürburgring.^[11]
• Richie Stanaway, who previously raced with Lotus in 2012, returned to the team, replacing injured Matthieu Vaxivière.^[17]
• Oliver Webb, who concentrated on LMP2 sportscars for the 2014 season, was replaced by Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 driver Óscar Tunjo from Spa onwards.^{[23] [36]}
• Esteban Ocon joined Comtec Racing for the rounds at the Hungaroring and Paul Ricard.^[27]

Race calendar and results

The calendar for the 2014 season was announced on 20 October 2013, the final day of the 2013 season.^[37] Seven of the nine rounds formed meetings of the 2014 World Series by Renault season, with additional rounds held at Monza and at the . The championship visited the Circuito de Jerez for the first time, and returned to the Nürburgring. Races at the Red Bull Ring and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were removed from the schedule, from 2013.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	R1	Monza Circuit	12 April			Will Stevens	Strakka Racing	Roberto Merhi
	R2		13 April				DAMS	Luca Ghiotto
2	R1	Ciudad del Motor de Aragón, Alcañiz	26 April	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Oliver Rowland
	R2		27 April	Oliver Rowland	Oliver Rowland	Oliver Rowland	Fortec Motorsports	Oliver Rowland
3		Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May	Norman Nato	Norman Nato	Norman Nato	DAMS	Oliver Rowland
4	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa	31 May	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Pierre Gasly
	R2		1 June	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Matias Laine	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Oliver Rowland
5	R1	Moscow Raceway, Volokolamsk	28 June	Sergey Sirotkin		Sergey Sirotkin	Fortec Motorsports	Roberto Merhi
	R2		29 June	Roberto Merhi	Roberto Merhi	Roberto Merhi	Zeta Corse	Roberto Merhi
6	R1	Nürburgring, Nürburg	12 July	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Roberto Merhi
	R2		13 July	Roberto Merhi	Zoël Amberg	Roberto Merhi	Zeta Corse	Roberto Merhi
7	R1	Hungaroring, Budapest	13 September	Oliver Rowland	Pierre Gasly	Roberto Merhi	Zeta Corse	Roberto Merhi
	R2		14 September	Roberto Merhi	Pierre Gasly	Norman Nato	DAMS	Roberto Merhi
8	R1	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	27 September	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Pierre Gasly	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Pierre Gasly
	R2			Pierre Gasly	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	DAMS	Pierre Gasly
9	R1		18 October	Will Stevens	Pietro Fantin	Will Stevens	Strakka Racing	Oliver Rowland
	R2		19 October	Oliver Rowland	Pietro Fantin	Oliver Rowland

Championship standings

Points systemPoints were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Drivers' Championship

valign=middle Pos valign=middle Driver MNZ ALC MON SPA MSC NÜR HUN LEC JER valign=middle Points 1 Carlos Sainz Jr. 18 1 1 4 4 1 1 14 6 1 Ret 4 6 1 1 15 11 227 2 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Pierre Gasly 3 5 9 2 7 2 4 18 2 20 8 2 3 2 2 6 4 192 3 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Roberto Merhi 2 9 6 6 9 Ret 13 4 1 2 1 1 2 5 4 Ret Ret 183 4 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Oliver Rowland 6 10 3 1 5 Ret 3 Ret 5 4 Ret 3 4 13 3 2 1 181 5 Sergey Sirotkin 7 3 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 4 3 4 14 Ret 4 7 3 5 132 6 Will Stevens 1 Ret 12 3 8 7 2 6 9 11 7 6 10 12 8 1 13 122 7 Norman Nato 15 11 11 10 1 5 5 17 16 12 6 8 1 10 Ret 8 10 89 8 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Matthieu Vaxivière 17† 16 7 8 Ret 13 2 5 7 3 6 4 8 83 9 Marlon Stöckinger 14 2 4 Ret 11 9 11 7 11 5 3 15 14 6 13 Ret 9 73 10 Jazeman Jaafar Ret 7 13 9 3 3 6 5 12 15 9 10 8 Ret 5 14 Ret 73 11 Zoël Amberg 8 13 5 5 6 Ret Ret 2 8 9 5 Ret 15 11 19 12 14 66 12 Marco Sørensen Ret Ret 15 7 2 8 10 15 15 10 14 7 9 8 Ret 9 Ret 44 13 Matias Laine 10 12 19 14 13 4 7 8 7 6 Ret Ret 13 9 17 10 Ret 40 14 Nikolay Martsenko 5 6 2 Ret 36 15 Pietro Fantin 11 8 10 12 15 Ret Ret 3 Ret 7 Ret Ret 11 Ret 20 Ret 6 34 16 William Buller 4 Ret Ret Ret 16 11 12 11 10 Ret 10 19 Ret 17 10 Ret 3 30 17 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Luca Ghiotto 16 4 16 Ret 14 6 Ret 16 14 Ret 15 11 19 7 16 13 Ret 26 18 Richie Stanaway Ret 8 9 3 21 19 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" 9 Ret 14 11 10 12 9 NC 18 14 Ret 16 5 Ret 14 7 15 21 20 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Nicholas Latifi Ret 18 16 9 16 2 20 21 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Beitske Visser Ret 17 18 16 17 10 14 13 13 19 Ret 17 12 15 11 5 12 11 22 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Óscar Tunjo Ret 15 10 17 8 Ret 12 Ret 18 15 Ret 7 11 23 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Esteban Ocon 9 DNS 14 12 2 24 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Roman Mavlanov 13 15 17 15 19 13 16 12 Ret 17 13 13 16 11 Ret 0 25 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Cameron Twynham 18 11 18 17 19 18 0 26 Oliver Webb 12 14 Ret 13 12 0 27 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Alfonso Celis Jr. 16 12 0 28 align=left style="background:#8FCFDF;" Andrea Roda 18 0 valign=middle Pos valign=middle Driver MNZ ALC MON SPA MSC NÜR HUN LEC JER valign=middle Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified

Teams' Championship

valign=middle Pos valign=middle Team valign=middle Car No. MNZ ALC MON SPA MSC NÜR HUN LEC JER valign=middle Points 1 align=left rowspan=2 DAMS 1 18 1 1 4 4 1 1 14 6 1 Ret 4 6 1 1 15 11 316 2 15 11 11 10 1 5 5 17 16 12 6 8 1 10 Ret 8 10 2 align=left rowspan=2 Fortec Motorsports 3 7 3 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 4 3 4 14 Ret 4 7 3 5 313 4 6 10 3 1 5 Ret 3 Ret 5 4 Ret 3 4 13 3 2 1 3 align=left rowspan=2 Arden Motorsport 7 3 5 9 2 7 2 4 18 2 20 8 2 3 2 2 6 4 222 8 4 Ret Ret Ret 16 11 12 11 10 Ret 10 19 Ret 17 10 Ret 3 4 align=left rowspan=2 Zeta Corse 21 13 15 17 15 19 13 13 12 Ret 17 13 13 16 11 Ret 183 22 2 9 6 6 9 Ret 16 4 1 2 1 1 2 5 4 Ret Ret 5 align=left rowspan=2 Lotus 15 14 2 4 Ret 11 9 11 7 11 5 3 15 14 6 13 Ret 9 177 16 17† 16 7 8 Ret Ret 8 9 3 13 2 5 7 3 6 4 8 6 align=left rowspan=2 Strakka Racing 11 1 Ret 12 3 8 7 2 6 9 11 7 6 10 12 8 1 13 162 12 10 12 19 14 13 4 7 8 7 6 Ret Ret 13 9 17 10 Ret 7 align=left rowspan=2 AVF 19 Ret 17 18 16 17 10 14 13 13 19 Ret 17 12 15 11 5 12 77 20 8 13 5 5 6 Ret Ret 2 8 9 5 Ret 15 11 19 12 14 8 ISR 17 Ret 7 13 9 3 3 6 5 12 15 9 10 8 Ret 5 14 Ret 73 9 align=left rowspan=2 Tech 1 Racing 9 Ret Ret 15 7 2 8 10 15 15 10 14 7 9 8 Ret 9 Ret 64 10 16 12 Ret 18 16 9 16 2 10 align=left rowspan=2 nowrap International Draco Racing 5 11 8 10 12 15 Ret Ret 3 Ret 7 Ret Ret 11 Ret 20 Ret 6 60 6 16 4 16 Ret 14 6 Ret 16 14 Ret 15 11 19 7 16 13 Ret 11 align=left rowspan=2 Comtec Racing 27 5 6 2 Ret 18 11 18 17 19 18 38 28 18 9 DNS 14 12 12 align=left rowspan=2 Pons Racing 25 12 14 Ret 13 12 Ret 15 10 17 8 Ret 12 Ret 18 15 Ret 7 32 26 9 Ret 14 11 10 12 9 NC 18 14 Ret 16 5 Ret 14 7 15 valign=middle Pos valign=middle Team valign=middle Car No. MNZ ALC MON SPA MSC NÜR HUN LEC JER valign=middle Points

• Polesitter for each race in bold. No points were awarded.
• Driver who recorded fastest lap denoted in italics. No points were awarded.
• Driver who retired but was classified denoted by †.

External links

• Renault-Sport official website

Notes and References

1. News: Stevens holds on to win first Jerez race as Sainz secures title. Allen. Peter. 18 October 2014. Paddock Scout. 19 October 2014.
2. News: 13 teams selected for the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season . https://web.archive.org/web/20141209185633/http://renaultsportf1.com/13-teams-selected-for-the-2014.html?lang=fr . dead . 9 December 2014 . 25 February 2014 . . Renault Sport . 4 March 2014 .
3. News: Nato and Sainz Jr with DAMS . dams.fr . . 18 December 2013 . 18 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131219005800/http://www.dams.fr/detail-actu2.php?lang=en&id=462 . 19 December 2013 .
4. News: Sirotkin signs with Fortec for 2014 FR3.5 campaign. Peter. Allen. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. 6 January 2014. 6 January 2014.
5. News: Rowland signs for Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault 3.5 . https://archive.today/20131118154531/http://www.formularapida.net/news/rowland-sings-for-fortec-motorsport-in-formula-renault-3-5/ . dead . 18 November 2013 . Arnau . Viñals Vendrell . Formula Ràpida . FormulaRapida.net . 21 October 2013 . 25 December 2013 .
6. News: Pietro Fantin joins International Draco Racing for 2014 season. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. Valentin. Khorounzhiy. 2 December 2013. 2 December 2013.
7. News: Ghiotto to make Formula Renault 3.5 step with Draco. Allen. Peter. 5 February 2014. Paddock Scout. 5 February 2014.
8. News: Red Bull protege Pierre Gasly eyes 2014 FR3.5 title with Arden. Glenn. Freeman. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 18 December 2013. 18 December 2013.
9. News: Will Buller joins Arden in Formula Renault 3.5. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. 17 January 2014. 17 January 2014.
10. News: Marco Sorensen joins Tech 1 for 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 campaign. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 25 February 2014. Paddock Scout. 25 February 2014.
11. News: Cameron Twynham and Alfonso Celis join FR3.5 field for Nurburgring. 11 July 2014. Allen. Peter. Paddock Scout. 11 July 2014.
12. News: Tech 1 sign Latifi for two Formula Renault 3.5 rounds. 3 September 2014. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. Paddock Scout. 3 September 2014.
13. News: Strakka retain Stevens for 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 campaign. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. 7 January 2014. 7 January 2014.
14. News: Strakka retains Matias Laine for 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 season. Autosport.com. Autosport. 20 January 2014. 20 January 2014.
15. News: Lotus FR3.5 team confirms Stockinger alongside Vaxiviere for 2014. Allen. Peter. 12 February 2014. Paddock Scout. 10 April 2014.
16. News: Vaxiviere set to enter Formula Renault 3.5 with Lotus. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. Valentin. Khorounzhiy. 18 December 2013. 19 December 2013.
17. News: Stanaway con Lotus Charouz a Spa . Costa . Massimo . 28 May 2014 . ItaliaRacing.net . Inpagina . it . 28 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140529084903/http://www.italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=44864&cat=5 . 29 May 2014 .
18. News: Jazeman Jaafar signs with ISR for 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 season. Valentin. Khorounzhiy. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. 13 January 2014. 13 January 2014.
19. News: Visser announces FR3.5 season with AVF. 26 March 2014. Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 26 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234958/http://www.crash.net/fr3.5/news/201508/1/avf-sign-visser-for-2014.html. 27 March 2014. dead.
20. News: AVF sign Amberg for 2014 season. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 25 February 2014. Paddock Scout. 25 February 2014.
21. News: WSR: Мери и Мавланов — пилоты российской Zeta Corse. Valeev. Elmir. 4 April 2014. F1News.ru. ru. 4 April 2014. WSR: Merhi and Mavlanov — drivers of the Russian Zeta Corse.
22. News: Oliver Webb joins Pons Racing for WSR Monza round. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 9 April 2014. Paddock Scout. 9 April 2014.
23. News: Oscar Tunjo joins Pons in Formula Renault 3.5 from Spa. Allen. Peter. 8 May 2014. Paddock Scout. 8 May 2014.
24. News: Van Buuren finalises Formula Renault 3.5 move with Pons. Allen. Peter. 4 April 2014. Paddock Scout. 4 April 2014.
25. News: Martsenko ha firmato per Comtec . 12 February 2014 . ItaliaRacing.net . Inpagina . it . 12 February 2014 . Martsenko confirmed for Comtec . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140705111042/http://italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=43390&cat=5 . 5 July 2014 .
26. News: Roda joins FR3.5 field with Comtec for Monaco. Allen. Peter. Paddock Scout. 19 May 2014. 19 May 2014.
27. News: Lotus F1 junior, European F3 leader Esteban Ocon makes FR3.5 debut. Simmons. Marcus. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 8 September 2014. 8 September 2014.
28. News: Riccardo Agostini joins EuroInternational for 2014 European F3. Marcus. Simmons. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 20 December 2013. 29 December 2013.
29. News: Mikhail Aleshin to become first Russian IndyCar racer in 2014. Beer. Matt. 22 November 2013. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 5 December 2013.
30. News: Antonio Felix da Costa and Maxime Martin land 2014 BMW DTM drives. Matt. Beer. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 6 December 2013. 6 December 2013.
31. News: Kevin Magnussen signs to race for McLaren in Formula 1 in 2014. Jonathan. Noble. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 14 November 2013. 5 December 2013.
32. News: Nico Müller to compete for Audi in the DTM. 16 January 2014. Audi Sport. Audi. 16 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140116203958/https://www.audi-motorsport.info/v2/public/en/2014/press-release/single/id/8257. 16 January 2014. dead.
33. News: Andre Negrao completes Arden’s GP2 lineup. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. PaddockScout.com. Paddock Scout. 16 January 2014. 16 January 2014.
34. News: Arthur Pic joins Campos for team's 2014 GP2 return. Pablo. Elizalde. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 2 January 2014. 13 January 2014.
35. News: Financial difficulties force Martsenko out of FR3.5. Allen. Peter. 28 May 2014. Paddock Scout. 28 May 2014.
36. News: Oliver Webb to make full-time LMP2 sportscar switch in 2014. Watkins. Gary. Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 17 January 2014. 17 January 2014.
37. News: 2014 World Series by Renault calendar unveiled. 20 October 2013. Renault Sport. World Series by Renault. 21 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131023071740/http://www.renaultsport.com/2014-World-Series-by-Renault,3040.html. 23 October 2013. dead.