The cars of 2014

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All eleven of the Formula One cars which will compete of the 2014 F1 season have now had their first appearances in public and most have run at two different tracks.

F1 Fanatic’s 2014 car information and image pages will be updated throughout the year as teams develop their designs and tweak their liveries.

You can find all of the pages below and access them via the Pictures menu above.

Red Bull RB10

Adrian Newey’s answer to the nose regulations is more elegant than some but the champions are struggling to get their new challenger running reliably.

Mercedes W05

The early signs are encouraging for Mercedes as the W05 has been both reliable and quick so far, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to cover over 3,000km between them.

Ferrari F14 T

Having overhauled their wind tunnel and made major hirings to their technical staff a lot is riding on Ferrari’s latest challenger, which has run very well in testing.

Lotus E22

The only car not to appear at the first test of the year, Lotus’s E22 features by far the most striking solution to the new nose rules with a radical twin-pronged set-up.

McLaren MP4-29

McLaren have avoided the temptation to go too conservative after a disastrous 2013 – the new MP4-29 features an innovative rear suspension design.

Force India VJM07

Force India were first to reveal their car but it wasn’t until Jerez that we got a proper look at it – and another of this year’s unsightly noses.

Sauber C33

The new brake-by-wire system has been a cause of grief for Sauber during testing and Adrian Sutil has had a couple of off-track excursions.

Toro Rosso STR9

Given Renault’s troubles this may have been the worst time for Toro Rosso to make the switch from Ferrari. Rookie Daniil Kvyat has only logged 71 laps in the car.

Williams FW36

Conversely to Toro Rosso, Williams must be pleased with the timing of their switch to Mercedes power. The curbing of exhaust-blown diffusers also plays into their hands.

Marussia MR03

In six days of running Marussia’s MR03 hasn’t mustered enough laps to add up to a race distance, despite a switch to Ferrari power for their new car.

Caterham CT05

It’s not a looker (none of them are) but Caterham have at least managed a reasonable amount of running with their Renault-powered car, probably due to its visibly more generous cooling.

2014 F1 season


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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Lotus/LAT, Williams/LAT, McLaren/Hoch Zwei, Mercedes/Hoch Zwei, Red Bull/Getty, Force India, Sauber, Caterham/LAT, Marussia

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52 comments on “The cars of 2014”

  1. The Williams and the Mercedes are clearly the most aesthetic.

    1. I think its not a bad looker being a dark colour hides the anteater nose a bit. The red bull and lotus have the least offensive looking noses I think.

    2. Red Bull for me. It’s generally got a very elegant nose with the protuberance fairly well disguised. The Merc nose is okay but I’m less keen the sudden downwards angle of it and the camera mounts. The Williams is one of the batter looking cars to have such an obvious finger, but it is still fairly obvious and the livery isn’t finalised.

      1. The Merc nose is okay but I’m less keen *on the sudden…

        The Williams is one of the better looking cars

    3. Williams rear end is always different, with its own gearbox and they always try something innovative. This car features a sort of double diffuser.

    4. I don’t like reading “are clearly the most aesthetic” please instead write “are clearly the most aesthetic to me”. from most f1 forums and wesbsites I have read, the redbull seems favourite for looks. Williams is up there. “to me” Mercedes is about 4th or 5th nicest.

      1. The Blade Runner (@)
        25th February 2014, 16:12

        Well said! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all of that…

        I think we’ll also find that the car(s) that win(s) consistently will suddenly appear more attractive. The only exception to that is the Caterham which will still look like a dolphin that is being transported to SeaWorld in an F1 car!

        1. There were lots of winners in 2012, and they were, by and large, hideous.

    5. I think the Red Bull looks better honestly; what they’ve done livery-wise hides the nose much better than other teams; and the shape is rather decent too.

      1. Agreed. It’s really the only nose I can stand to look at. The rest of them are all pretty bad to varying degrees.

  2. The Sauber probably have the best iteration of the “Finger” nose. But Force India have the best livery. And what’s with the airbox joined to the chassis on many cars?

  3. Am I the only one who thinks Lotus is one of the better looking cars this year? The twin-tusk nose looks better, than most of the other solutions and I’ve always liked the livery.

    1. It’s interesting, but the nose is so slab sided that I can’t finding it good looking.

    2. The Blade Runner (@)
      25th February 2014, 16:06

      It looks like a yokel with a chipped tooth!

      1. The Blade Runner (@)
        25th February 2014, 16:19

        But the livery is epic!

  4. Imagine the Force India livery on the Mercedes chassis. Now that would be quite an epic combination.

    1. Exactly. That would be awesome!

      1. I had to do a double take there @seahorse – because your avatar is so similar to @kingshark‘s I thought you had just replied to yourself in agreement @kingshark haha!

        1. Hahaha……Gold!

        2. Hahaha.. But you can’t blame me for that @vettel1 ;)

  5. Actually I can say with confidence that this is probably the best looking Red Bull car to have rolled out the past few years . Maybe the 2008 car looked a bit cooler , but still I like the flow of the car to the nose , it is so smooth .

    1. The 2008 one at least had wings in proportion. But it offset that by having the (to my eyes) horrible high and pinched front wing of all 2005-08 cars (some cars looked better than others with them, partly influenced by how upright the endplates were, and you can see in the picture below that Red Bull’s endplates made it look like the wing was folding in on itself). And by the end of the year it had a few additions too many like the bridge over the front wing, horns on the nose, and the shark fin.
      https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/webb_heik_inte_2008.jpg

      It did look considerably better at launch to be fair.
      http://www.pitpass.com/gallery/818/2008-launch—red-bull

    2. The 2008 one at least had wings in proportion. But it offset that by having the (to my eyes) horrible high and pinched front wing of all 2005-08 cars (some cars looked better than others with them, partly influenced by how upright the endplates were, and you can see in the picture below that Red Bull’s endplates made it look like the wing was folding in on itself). And by the end of the year it had a few additions too many like the bridge over the front wing, horns on the nose, and the shark fin.
      https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/webb_heik_inte_2008.jpg

      It did look considerably better at launch to be fair.
      http://www.pitpass.com/gallery/818/2008-launch—red-bull

  6. I am just hoping that everything works out for Marussia. I believe they have a faster car than catrerham but they have been hindered by a lack of running.

    1. +3
      @full-throttle-f1 it’s nice to see someone else publicly supporting Marussia on this site. I also believe that they can beat Caterham and I jolly hope that they do! I know the guys back at HQ and I know that they work really hard to get the car prepared.

      Go go Marussia!

  7. I can’t help but feel the Red Bull has an RB7 look to it. The RB7 was pretty dominant, which worries me.

    The Marussia or the Mercedes are the ones that stand out as the least ugly cars there.

    1. Considering the RB7 is 3 years old, it might be slower due to less advanced parts.

  8. For me, the best-looking cars are the: 1st. Mercedes F1 W05, 2nd. Red Bull RB10, 3rd. McLaren MP4-29
    …And the worst-looking cars are the: 1st. Caterham CT05, 2nd. Toro Rosso STR9, 3rd. Force India VJM07

    1. Just to add to that, the best liveries for me are from: 1st. McLaren (although potentially interim), 2nd. Mercedes, 3rd. Force India

  9. Aesthetically I would rate the Mercedes above any other car. Marussia and Red Bull can compete for the top slot if and only if they dint have those appendages to the noses. My order would be:
    1. Mercedes
    2. Ferrari
    3. Marussia
    4. Red Bull
    5. Lotus
    6. Williams
    7. Force India
    8. Caterham
    9. McLaren
    10. Sauber
    11. Toro Rosso

    For the livery though, I would rate the Force India the best one of
    the year, which I feel is much better than the leaked shot Williams in the Martini livery from a filming day.

    1. I do like the Red Bull’s because it’s very discreet and really not all that noticeable at all from most angles, so I think overall it has the best nose. But the rear packaging on the Mercedes is very nicely sculpted indeed, and coupled with its reliability and pace it is my early favourite car.

      1. @vettel1 Yeah you are right about the Red Bull being discreet in that nose design, but still that keel is not to my liking.

  10. You can’t go saying none of the 2014 cars are good looking when the Marussia’s there!

    1. +1

      Quite pretty.

  11. Mark in Florida
    25th February 2014, 21:29

    Maybe formula one is trying to attract new sponsors to the sport with their new car designs. Trojan condoms and Viagra are the most obvious choices. If the cars crash into each other’s rear end Preperation H for hemorrhoids would look good on the back wing. To me none of these cars are beautiful. Some are more tolerable to look at that’s all.

  12. My top three aesthetically –

    #1 Mercedes
    #2 Marussia
    #3 RBR

    The RBR is probably my favourite aesthetically, but because the nose still looks high it loses a few points. Race cars with low noses are so beautiful.

  13. The best looking F1 cars for me:

    1) Mercedes AMG F1 W05

    2) McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29

    3) Force India-Mercedes VJM07

    4) Sauber-Ferrari C33

    5) Marussia-Ferrari MR03

    6) Scuderia Ferrari F14 T

    7) Williams-Mercedes FW36

    8) RBR-Renault RB10

    9) Lotus-Renault E22

    10) Toro Rosso-Renault STR9

    AND BY FAR THE WORST:

    11) Caterham-Renault CT05

    1. The Blade Runner (@)
      26th February 2014, 9:12

      I’d swap Marussia and Williams around but apart from that agree.

      1. @thebladerunner The Marussia is not a bad looking car at all but the only reason why I wouldn’t rate it higher is because it looks too simple e.g. no bodywork around the sidepods.

        1. *Williams

          Also the Williams test livery is a bit boring.

  14. Aesthetically my main issue with the RB10 is actually nothing to do with the nose, but the rear wing endplates. From a side view they just look unnecessarily wide and bulky, which isn’t helped by the colour scheme: the red advancing from the dark blue.

    1. The huge endplates are a problem on a lot of cars, but you’re right that Red Bull’s stand out.

  15. Top three:

    1. Mercedes – by a mile
    2. Lotus
    3. Williams

  16. Does anybody else find it “funny” that the two Constructors that are obviously going to duel this season for the WDC have similar “hoover” noses? Coincidence? I think not!
    Mercedes is tipped to be the clear winner this season and I find it “funny” that the Ferrari resembles the MERC!
    Sharing information maybe? Secret tips? It just seems weird to me!

    1. Don’t know if you meant it like that, but I wouldn’t say Mercedes and Ferrari are necessarily the Constructors dueling for the WDC/WCC. I mean sure, they’ll be fighting for it, but you’re forgetting there are 11 teams out there.

      And while the tests seem to have Mercedes at the front and Ferrari (relatively) close behind, it could all change when Melbourne arrives. Not to mention over the course of the season.

      1. well… basically it is going to be a 3 engine manufacturer race. I just didn´t count renault because to me, they´ll come into the picture in the second half of the season. Ferrari and Merc powered cars will duel it out.
        I just find it strange that MERC are the favorites this season and it just so happens that both teams have the same nose. That must mean something. Maybe it´s just me and my theories but I think they both are on to something and what bothers me is, I would love to know who copied who!

        you’re forgetting there are 11 teams out there.

        No I´m not, I´m just realistic enough to know that both those teams have the strongest pairing in the whole field!(Ferrari has a slight edge in that department). Vettel and the R-B-10 can just do so much and I doubt Ricciardo is up to the task (IMHO); Williams does look like they have a contender but seriously, Massa is the best they´ve got and we all know how “good” he is; Lotus, I particularly like Grosjean and I bet he´ll get the team´s points(If they get the Renault PU to work), FI, well, Hulkenberg is their main points getter and the rest of the field to me, are pretty much going to be battling it out between them so yeah, I believe we will have a MERC/FERRARI season on our hands which is a very welcomed thought!!

        1. The Blade Runner (@)
          26th February 2014, 17:22

          There are so many variables that it’s impossible to predict!

          What about tyre wear (remember the Merc last year)?
          Will one car be better on fuel than another? Probably.
          Reliability. We’ve seen the Merc stop on track a few times. Will racing conditions reveal an issue with it or any of the other cars? Again, probably.

          Long-story short… No one knows!

          I have to say though that I am now getting soooooooooooooooooooooo excited about the new season!

  17. My two cents on the aesthetics – top 5

    1. Mercedes – by a mile!
    2. Lotus
    3. Williams.
    4. Ferrari
    5. Red Bull

  18. Like both the Merc and RB10 for different reasons:
    – Understated elegance of the RB10.
    – Merc’s aggressive ready to fly look.

  19. It may only be one or two races before Red Bull becomes the huge runaway truck it was before . They have the money,the team,the drivers and one of the best designers ever . They are working flat out right now ,sleeping under their desks and on the workshop floor until they are on the pile again .They enjoyed winning too much to lie down in a heap and die . There are huge amounts of money at stake from bonuses and winnings . They have french chateaus and mega yachts to pay off

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