Mercedes
Last season in five words Improved, promising, inconsistent,
tyre-chewers
Biggest strength They have been able to design their car and engine for
2014 in tandem, which should give a huge advantage over non-works teams.
Biggest weakness None showing at the moment, but Mercedes lack of a
title in recent years makes it a bigger hurdle to overcome.
——————————————————————————————
Ferrari
Last season in five words Underperformers, fractious, disappointing,
forgettable, Fernando
Biggest strength The drivers. Alonso and Raikkonen are both world
champions, and there is probably not a stronger line-up on the grid.
Biggest weakness In recent years they have simply not been quick
enough, and Alonso has outperformed the car. Have struggled to produce the
fastest car.
——————————————————————————————
Lotus
Last season in five words Above expectations, challenging, money
problems
Biggest strength Ability to overcome adversity. Lotus has lost a lot of
personnel, including their team principal, but they manage to perform
despite this.
Biggest weakness Lack of strength in depth, and a Renault engine which
could leave them scrapping to make it in the points.
——————————————————————————————
McLaren
Last season in five words Awful, shocking, podiumless, coup-inducing
Biggest strength Apart from last season, McLaren are one of the best
teams at improving throughout the season. If they have a strong base, watch
out for Button and Magnussen.
Biggest weakness They have not won a constructors’ title since 1998,
they’ve had a habit in recent years of building uncompetitive cars.
——————————————————————————————
Force India
Last season in five words Impressive start, mixed, unadaptable, average
Biggest strength Believed to be one of the first teams to start working
on their 2014 car, and in Nico Hulkenberg they have a gem of a driver.
Biggest weakness Propensity to tail off mid-season. In recent years
they haven’t been able to be quick consistently enough.
——————————————————————————————
Sauber
Last season in five words Slow-starting, middling, driver-inspired
Biggest strength Despite their size and budget, Sauber have a knack for
building relatively quick cars, although it looked a handful in pre-season.
Biggest weakness The loss of Hulkenberg. While Sutil is consistent but
unspectacular, Gutierrez is still something of an unknown quantity.
——————————————————————————————
Toro Rosso
Last season in five words Uninspiring, average, quicker in qualifying
Biggest strength The partnership with Red Bull. Although they are an
independent team, the guidance of the world champions brings benefits.
Biggest weakness Young, inexperienced and unproven drivers in Kyvat and
Vergne, and the switch from Ferrari to the unreliable Renault engine.
——————————————————————————————
Williams
Last season in five words Slow, poor, depressing, fractious,
forgettable
Biggest strength Their winning history, and a host of technical
recruitments. Pat Symonds, technical boss, is a proven winner and should
turn things around. Great driver pairing, too.
Biggest weakness They have been outspent and outgunned in recent years
by the bigger teams, and have been somewhat chaotic in their organisation.
——————————————————————————————
Marussia
Last season in five words Credible, reliable, slow, backmarkers,
improving
Biggest strength Realistically, the only way is forward, and new
regulations give them a chance to catch up on the field.
Biggest weakness Their budget is the smallest of all the teams, which
makes it virtually impossible to develop their car sufficiently throughout
the season.
——————————————————————————————
Caterham
Last season in five words Last, slow, disappointing, below expectations
Biggest strength A poor 2013 gave the team a chance to build towards
2014, and the returning Kamui Koabayshi is no slouch.
Biggest weakness They have not scored in point since the team came into
F1, and out of that failure its hard to breed success. They are also powered
by Renault.