My son's other F1 toys

I got a question earlier when I said that my son got another Formula One car for Christmas. It was a request actually asking if I could show a picture or some pictures of the other F1 toys my son has.

He has two more and I think it's probably enough for the moment. I don't wanna force the F1 stuff on him. If he becomes interested of the sport I will buy him more and maybe take him to see or test some karting. I started driving go-karts when I was about 7 years old if I remember correctly. My "teacher" was a Finnish Karting driver Mikael Santavirta and the club I joined was called Micro Monza. It was in Konala, Helsinki. Great memories... Maybe I could show some pictures some day.

But here are the pictures of the toys:

A friend of mine was cleaning his basement and found this. When I was at his place he gave it to me because I am such a F1 freak.

My wife's friend from her office gave our son this because she also knew that I like F1.

If you wanna send my son more toys then feel free to do that! :D

F1 vs Super Bike vs Power Boat - Fifth Gear

Honda supplied the engines for all of them. Take a look!

How Mark Webber prepares for a hot race

If you haven't seen this then I suggest you take a look. It's quite interesting if you ask me.

F1 CHAMPIONS FOREVER : THE QUICK & THE DEAD

I have posted this earlier in two blocks but now I am posting this again as a whole video. This documentary is a must see if you are a true Formula One fan.

Michael Schumacher Documentary

Michael Schumacher full documentary from 2013 SkySport F1 HD. This is a must see!

2014 Monaco Grand Prix preview

Monaco, the most legendary track in Formula One. It starts on Thursday because Friday is usually a day of. There is no real explanation but some say that drivers celebrate in Monaco on Thursday so it wouldn't be ok to drive the next day. Maybe there is some other explanation nowadays? I don't know.

Monaco hosted their first F1 Grand Prix in 1950. It was also the second F1 race ever driven. Back then it was just sick how many laps they drove! 100 laps and it took over 3 hours!! Monaco has hosted GP's also before the F1 series started. The first race was in 1929.

The first F1 race in Monaco was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who started from pole and also set the fastest lap of the race. 9 cars crashed on the first lap and one car on the second. Only 7 cars finished the race and Fangio was much faster than everybody else! Alberto Ascari was 2nd 1 lap behind, Louis Chiron was 3rd 2 laps behind, Raymond Sommer 4th 3 laps behind, Prince Bira 5th 5 laps behind, Bob Gerard 6th 6 laps behind and Johnny Claes 7th also 6 laps behind.

The next time they held an official GP in Monaco was in 1955 and it has been a part of the calendar since that year.

In 1959 Monaco was the first race of the season and Jack Brabham won the race. He passed away today so I thought it was nice to mention him as well. He was such a super driver! Had his own team and won a championship with it. Who else has done that?

Monaco started the F1 season many times after 1959 but when they wanted more races in the calendar they had to fit in other races before it. The race in Monaco has always been in May.

I could talk about Monaco for days so let's stop here about the history and move on to statistics instead. Maybe I'll talk a bit about history as well.. can't control myself when it's Monaco we are talking about.

Most wins in Monaco: Ayrton Senna, 6 wins. 1984-1993 the Monaco GP was only won by Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost. Senna could have probably won in 1984 if the race wouldn't have been stopped. In 1988 he led the race almost 1 minute over Prost but made a mistake when McLaren told him several times to slow down.

Most wins by constructor - McLaren, 15 wins. Senna 5 times, Prost 4 times, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton once and David Coulthard 2 times.

The fastest lap in Monaco is 1:14.439 and it was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.

The track length is 3.340km and they are lapping it 78 times.

Then it's time for my predictions. Yes I know that I haven't talked much about this years race but I'll focus on this year when the race is over. If you want to hear opinions etc. ask me.

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

The race:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

Surprise: Sergio Perez has pushed hard in Monaco but failed almost every time. Maybe he will succeed this year?

Remember to post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE.

The rules:

POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes.

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side JT, AE & MW. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps.

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com

33 DAYS Trailer HD

Have you heard about this? Another F1 movie!! well, it's a documentary but anyway I am very happy.

For a while there was no Formula One related films and now they all come out at once!

Enjoy the trailer and let's wait for the real thing!

AYRTON SENNA WEEK: Ayrton Senna at the 1991 AUTOSPORT Awards

This week is dedicated to Ayrton Senna. 

He passed away 20 years ago in Imola and he is the greatest driver of all time if you ask me and almost anyone else.

I will post stuff about Senna every day this week. Here is the first thing - a video:

Secret Life Of Formula 1 - Technology Documentary

I had to repost this documentary because the other one got erased from YouTube. I hate it when they do that!

Rossi to drive for Caterham in Montreal and Austin

American racer Alexander Rossi will drive for Caterham in the opening Friday practice sessions of this year's Canadian and United States Grands Prix, the team have confirmed.

Rossi, 22, has been a reserve driver at Caterham since 2012, and is also one of the team's primary simulator drivers. 

While Montreal will represent his first Grand Prix action of 2014, he has previously completed numerous FP1 and test runs, including driving in the same sessions last year. He was 20th fastest in Canada and then 19th in the US, just over seven-tenths of a second slower than the Red Bull of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Rossi, who is also competing for Caterham's junior team in GP2, said: "Each time I step into F1 machinery there is an important job to do. Montreal and Austin are important races for me and I want to thank Caterham for the opportunity to continue my development to a full time race seat in F1. 

"My GP2 program combined with my F1 team reserve driver duties give me invaluable insight and experience for my future. I've built up a lot of hours in the F1 simulator already this year, but Montreal will be my first visit behind the wheel of the CT05 on track. 

"I look forward to a positive run plan for both the Canadian and USA sessions."

Caterham F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul added: "Alexander will be continuing his development with two more FP1 sessions for us in Canada and the USA. 

"While his focus this year is firmly on GP2 we are pleased to give him more opportunities to play an active role in the F1 team's race weekends and to have him help us develop our car at two races that are very important for us, both in terms of our season overall and with the strong support we have commercially in the North American continent."

(source: f1.com)

Red Bull F1 vs V8 Supercar vs C63 AMG (2014, Melbourne Australia)

2014 Australian Grand Prix review

Wow! what a race! Someone could say it was boring cause Rosberg dominated the race. If you look at the rest of the field it was actually very interesting if you ask me.

Right after the start Nico Rosberg overtook his teammate Lewis Hamilton like a flying bullet.
I said earlier in a post that these new regulations might fit Rosberg better than Hamilton. It's hard to say because Hamilton had more technical issues but anyways I believe this will be Rosberg's season and not Hamilton's. Nico's father Keke won the championship in 1982 and Nico knows that he's as good as his father was.

Keke Rosberg

The next thing I wanted to mention was Kamui Kobayashi's crash in the first corner. He hit Massa and Kimi Räikkönen's tyre but Kimi managed to continue the race. He had some problems with his tyres but according to Pirelli it was because of the weather... funny explanation when nobody else had problems with them.

Kamui Kobayashi

Massa was furious and said that Kobayashi's crash was just like Grosjean's move in Spa 2012. I guess he overreacted just a bit.

Caterham stated that the crash was not Kobayashi's fault because the car had faulty brakes.

The other Caterham broke down later and Marcus Ericsson was forced to retire his first race. Sad because he didn't drive that much in the practice sessions either. Caterham had a lot of problems and I believe that they have even more issues than they are telling us.

Hamilton and Vettel were forced to retire early in the race which was good in a way. I am sure that Vettel retiring was a positive thing to many fans. Hamilton being the favorite for the championship also retiring makes the series more interesting.

Daniel Ricciardo

A big surprise was Daniel Ricciardo's pace in the race. Compared to Vettel he was just flying!
Red Bull was just awful in the winter testings so were did this speed come from?
In the end we know why though. Vettel's car was legal and he retired and Ricciardo's was not so he was disqualified. Who knows what will happen with them this year. I guess they might take podiums and maybe a win this year but nothing else. On the other hand I shouldn't underestimate Adrian Newey.

Lotus was a big disappointment. I knew they had problems but didn't realize that they would be fighting for positions with the Marussias and Caterhams. That was just laughable! Then they both retired. Maldonado said that moving to Lotus was the best decision he ever made but seeing how well his former teammate Valtteri Bottas was driving... I guess he doesn't think so anymore.

Valtteri Bottas was one of the biggest stars in the race! The guy just overtook car after car until he was behind Alonso. He was less than 1 second behind Alonso so he could have used DRS on him but didn't. You might wonder why and the truth is that Bottas had problems with his DRS. If everything would have worked like it was supposed to then I don't know how high he would have risen in the race.

Valtteri Bottas

Then there was his small unfortunate accident when he touched the wall. He dropped to last place and started everything all over again by overtaking car after car and showing everybody what he is made of.  No wonder Mika Häkkinen and Toto Wolff have both taken him under their wing and getting him where he is today. Phenomenal driver! He is going to be one of my biggest favorites this year.

Then I got two new favorites drivers for this season! Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat. These guys were already showing experienced drivers that they are rookies to be reckoned with. 

Magnussen was 2nd after Ricciardo was excluded from the race and Kvyat was 9th in a Toro Rosso. Is Toro Rosso getting better or did Kvyat make the car look better than it really was?

Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen made his father Jan proud by getting a better result in his first race than he got in his whole F1 career. Jan Magnussen was supposed to be a star but liked to smoke and drink a bit too much.

Nico Hülkenberg drove a great race again and gave Fernando Alonso a very hard time. It almost seemed that the Force India was better than Ferrari or if it wasn't I guess Hülkenberg just drove better than Alonso in Melbourne.

Alonso and Räikkönen were 5th and 6th at best in the race. After the pitstop (were they came in at the same time) Kimi was forced to drop a couple of places. That was a bit frustrating for him.

On track Kimi had brake and tyre issues and lost his position to Bottas two times. Let's hope that this season will be fair and not just technical problems. Räikkönen had a couple of good seasons with Lotus so it's a bit weird that suddenly it all comes collapsing down at Ferrari. 

Kimi Räikkönen

Alonso said that Räikkönen might be the fastest driver in F1 and that there are a few others that say the same. He believes that Räikkönen didn't really feel good in the car this weekend and that the problems were probably not because of him.

One more thing before I start comparing my guesses: POOR RICCIARDO! I REALLY FEEL SORRY FOR THE GUY. He seems to be a great guy and clearly the happiest Formula One driver ever.
He was giggling in the car when he got 2nd place and the team said that they can hear his smile through the radio. He must have been devastated when they disqualified him.

So now it's time for the guesses!

Pole position: Felipe Massa - It's hard to say at this point who is taking poles etc. but this time I was totally wrong. Lewis Hamilton took pole with his Mercedes.

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - Retired the race but could have easily taken 2nd place behind Rosberg.
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - Rosberg was one position higher up.
3. Felipe Massa, Williams - Retired the race right in the beginning. Williams was very fast so it could have happened I'll give you that.

Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen - with those tyres and brakings no chance! Nico Rosberg was fastest and only Valtteri Bottas had chances to beat that lap time.

Surprise: Marussia! - Yes they were surprisingly bad! I thought that they would have done better but they started by having problems before the lights even went out at the start. In the tests they had shown some improvement though.

That's all for this time and I'll do my next preview and review when we move to Malaysia in two weeks!

FIA post-qualifying press conference - Australia

Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 2 - Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing); 3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

Q: Lewis, a little bit of history on a number of levels today, not least the first pole position with this new formula and equalling Nigel Mansell’s 32 career poles.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah. It’s been an interesting weekend. Today, it made it so much harder for everyone with the conditions. I’m really happy for the job the team did. You know these new cars are so much harder to drive in the wet and it was the first time for me driving in the wet, as I’m sure it was for a lot of people. A serious task and challenge today, but for both me and Nico to be up here is a great showing for the team and it’s obviously great to see Ricciardo up here for his first grand prix with Red Bull.

Q: Tell us about the conditions, as obviously it rained pretty hard towards the end. There was a split of decision on which way to go on tyres - you went for the wets. Was that the right decision? 
LH: Yeah, it was kind of on the limit. It was very difficult to know what the turnover point was. Do you take a risk or not? I decided not to. Ricciardo, Daniel did a really good job on the inters, so obviously it was a very close call between the two. But the conditions made it extremely difficult. There’s so much more power, so you’re short-shifting all the way down into fifth, sixth, seventh before you can get the full throttle. But great fun otherwise and I hope the weather is better tomorrow, mostly for the fans, but also for us.

Q: Daniel, I think the cheer from the crowd said it all really, an incredible first Red Bull qualifying session for you and a lot of Australian pride? 
Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah, it was exciting. Definitely the weather added to the mix and the whole session went well. Not everyone was out with options at the beginning but Q1 looked like it was going OK for us. And then when the rain fell, as Lewis said, it’s the first time we’ve all driven these cars on the limit in wet conditions. It was tricky but at the same time, of course, a lot of fun. It was nice to be always up there. The engineer was on the radio saying ‘pace is good, P1, P2, P3’ it was always in that battle for the pole position. So definitely a really nice qualifying session with the team.

Q: Well your team-mate is down in 13th, so what was the difference today? 
DR: I don’t know yet what his issues were. I think it was… I saw it was about two seconds or so off my pace at the time. We’ll have to see what went wrong with Seb and his side of the garage. But for now, happy for me to at least be up here and just for the team to have a front-row start, I think it wasn’t looking like this a few weeks ago, so pretty pleased right now.

Q: Very well done, and Nico, was it all about timing in that last part of qualifying? Was that what it was about? 
Nico Rosberg: I’m not really sure what the others were doing. For sure we didn’t get it quite right but you just don’t know what’s going to happen. So, I don’t think we did much wrong. Of course, in hindsight you can always say ‘oh we could have done that better or this better’ but all in all I think it was a good qualifying session. Third is… I’m pleased with that. Could have been better but third is OK. I know we have a quick race car and from there a good race is possible.

Q: It’s been very close between you and Lewis throughout this weekend, so what happens tomorrow?
NR: Of course it’s going to be a completely different story than today. Also again depending on weather and things like that, we don’t really know what’s going to happen, there is a small chance of rain also tomorrow, but I think more likely it’s going to be dry. It will be totally different because this year… especially in Melbourne, it’s the most difficult track for fuel consumption, so it’s going to be difficult to save enough fuel in the race - a big challenge.

Q: You had a reliability scare here Lewis on the first day here, but the pair of you have been very, very quick the rest of the time, so what are you expecting from tomorrow?
LH: Ultimately it’s just down to the incredible job the team has done over the winter and through testing and come here… of course we had a small hiccup on Friday morning - it wasn’t really a scare, just unfortunate that we missed the session. But it was a quick fix, so no need to take the car apart, and just building on a good foundation and hopefully we can continue to do so.

Q: Lewis, I wonder if you could say a few words, particularly about the achievement of equalling Nigel Mansell? I’m sure he’s somebody as a kid you grew up watching racing. Obviously a very flamboyant character in Formula One and you’ve equalled him today.
LH: Yeah, absolutely. Another Brit, one of the greatest British drivers we had and to have achieved so much. I’ve been racing since my eighth year so, to be in Formula One has always been my dream but to get to as many poles as him is…yeah, incredible achievement and I owe that to all the great people I’ve worked with through my career at McLaren-Mercedes and now Mercedes and the team, and my family and the good people I have around me. I won’t be able to put in those laps without those people helping me. It was a team effort.

Q: Question for you Daniel. Obviously you have to go up against Sebastian as a team-mate. It’s a tall order but how much confidence are you going to draw just from today’s result?
DR: Definitely it’s a… not looking at him, I’m sure he had problems of some sort today but just for me to start the season with a front row, yeah, it does a lot of good things for the confidence. But yeah, obviously it’s just the start. I obviously have to race tomorrow and obviously finish up the front of the order and then see how the season progresses. The last couple of days have been really positive for us.

Q: Nico, couldn’t help but notice at the beginning of the qualifying you and Lewis side by side, wanting to be the first one out on track. I guess you guys just couldn’t help yourself, you had to race even there.
NR: No, it wasn’t that at all, and there were clear instructions also from the team that Lewis is first. It was agreed like that so that’s fine. It’s just that I wanted to do a practice start and the practice start position is on the right. That’s where we’re used to doing it, so I just put myself there for that. To have consistency.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Mark Fogarty - Auto Action and Fairfax Media) Daniel, can you talk a bit about how excited you must be to put in such a strong performance in your debut with the team in your home race? 
DR: Yeah, of course, yeah, really excited but at the same time, still staying calm and collected because tomorrow is what counts, definitely, so there’s no point in having a party tonight and not focusing on tomorrow. I guess speaking solely of today, it’s a really good day for us. The car was pretty good to drive in the wet. I think at the start of the year we were all fearing how difficult these new animals would be in wet conditions but it was... it’s always a bit of a handful but at the same time it was quite nice behind the wheel. Controlling the turbo and all that on throttle was good fun. Pretty excited. I heard all the crowd on the cool-down lap so all I can say is hopefully I will hear that tomorrow.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) To all three of you: how do you drive without the noise of the V8, does it change anything, the way you drive and the way you behave in the car?
LH: How do you drive differently or...? Without the noise. It’s the same, it’s the same, it’s just you don’t hear it as much. You kind of hear mostly wind until you get down to fourth/fifth gear... fifth, fourth and third. It might be different for other people but otherwise the rest of the drivers are saying you obviously have to be a lot more gradual with the throttle, stability with your reflexes and all that stuff is quite important.

NR: It’s just that we have less grip and more torque, that’s the main thing, and that just makes it more difficult on the exit of the corners, especially now in the wet and the sound, the difference is that I can hear my brake locking which I never used to hear, like in a road car, when it’s squeaking (squealing?) in the corner? Now you can hear that because there’s not so much engine noise anymore and that’s really really strange, but also interesting because now I can also hear my rear locking, even though I don’t feel it that much, it gives me some extra indication.

DR: I think I agree with what Lewis said, you hear the wind a lot more, especially at high speed. I guess you know when the gusts are blowing.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) For all of you: we saw during this qualifying a lot of quick laps one after the other. We understood that in the dry conditions you would do a lap and then a slower lap to recharge the batteries. Does that change in wet conditions?
LH: Well, naturally in the wet your braking distances are a lot longer so compared to a wet (dry?) lap where you get rid of all the energy on that lap, on a wet lap you’re braking for almost twice the distance or a little bit longer, maybe a third longer in the braking zone, so you have more time to regain the battery and charge the battery. But naturally it is easier if you do do a fast lap and a slow lap, fast lap but it is possible for some of us.

DR: Yeah. What Lewis said.

Q: (Jacob Polychronis - F1Plus.com) Daniel, what particular aspect of the racing requires the most attention going into tomorrow? Nico has spoken a lot about fuel consumption and tyre degradation yesterday being the key areas. How about for Red Bull? 
DR: Yeah, it’s probably I guess the same for everyone. Fuel is probably the question mark for a lot of teams. We still haven’t done a race distance yet so I think it’s probably going to be one of those things that we’re going to understand... each lap we do in the race, we’re going to understand more and more and how we’re looking. I think behind the wheel not too much will change, I’ll just keep getting information from the pit wall. You know there’s different modes and everything to control consumption on the steering wheel and I will just act accordingly. I think tyre degradation probably won’t be too bad, I think, normally with the rain now, so the washing off and making the track a bit green - as we call it - will probably be quite kind to the rears. I don’t think tyre deg will be a massive issue tomorrow.

Q: (Will Hagon - ABC Radio) Daniel, with all the pressure that’s been on you this week, your home Grand Prix and championship team and all the rest of it, how have you been sleeping and how do you think you’ll sleep tonight? 
DR: I’ve been sleeping well. I think I’ve been pretty worn out by the end of the day with all the extra curricula activities I’ve been doing. I’ve been sleeping well. I got to Oz over a week ago. I was in Sydney for that Top Gear festival so had time to get over jet lag and I’m sure I will sleep well tonight. It’s a pretty late start tomorrow so I don’t have to set any alarms. Should be right.

Q: (Dan Knutson - Auto Action) Daniel, the car is much better than in testing. Is it a case of just getting more laps on the core performance of the car or are the new bits that came in helping a lot? 
DR: I think it’s probably just us circulating more. In testing, unfortunately, a lot of the time we were circulating to learn about reliability and to stop things from overheating so we weren’t really focused on what set-up we were running or any of that. I think after yesterday, it was the first time we probably worked on set-up and understanding the car. I think all the aero guys are gathering more and more information and making the car a bit quicker each time we run. It’s definitely positive for us now and hopefully the upward trend continues and we can start to hassle these guys in dry conditions soon.

Q: (Mat Coch - pitpass.com) Daniel, a question close to every Australian’s heart: what are you like at starts? 
DR: Let’s see how we go tomorrow! Bit up and down last year. I guess everyone watched the races. I think they were on the up so let’s see how we go tomorrow. I think it’s going to be interesting for everyone now, with the V6 turbos. I think it’s also a bit of a different animal off the line. Hopefully we get off well.

Q: (Phil Branagan - Chevron Publishing) Dan, you must have had a realistic expectation after practice of where you’d qualify. Have you exceeded that? By how far? And what’s your expectation for tomorrow? 
DR: I think exceeded it just because if it was a dry qualifying we were expecting Lewis and Nico to take the front row. I think their pace in the dry was pretty impressive so far this week so exceeded that a bit but obviously the wet throws a bit of a curved ball and you’ve just got to take the session how it comes and see how you go from there. There wasn’t too much calculating going on in my head. It was just drive and adapt to the conditions. As I said, it was refreshing to hear my engineer on the radio saying we’re fighting all these for the top three. That was good to hear and obviously gives you a bit of motivation as well.

Q: (Mark Fogarty - Auto Action and Fairfax Media) Lewis and Nico, are you at all surprised to see Daniel sitting up there next to you? 
LH: Not at all. He’s showed some great performances in previous years and he’s got a good head on his shoulders, very talented so it’s expected, to be honest, plus Red Bull have been up at the top for some time so you have to assume that this year they will be very close to us. But without a doubt they’ve done an exceptional job.

NR: No, me too, great job, definitely. I hope I manage to pass him tomorrow. For sure. Well done.

Q: (Tony Schibeci - SEN) Daniel, for the last couple of years you’ve been fighting with the big boys. Now you’re one of the big boys. How cool is that? 
DR: Yeah, it’s cool. I can’t get ahead of myself. I’ve still got a bit to prove. I’ve still to establish myself at the front. It would obviously be great to be up here for the next few weekends and to cement myself at the front of the grid, so this is definitely a step towards that but yeah, as I said, there still a bit to go but obviously excited for what lies ahead and give it a good crack.

(source: f1.com)

What’s in a number? The truth behind the drivers’ new digits

For the past 18 years, the numbers that each team carries on their cars has been determined by constructors’ championship results. This season, however, each driver has been allowed to pick a race number that they’ll then use for the rest of their careers. 

But how did the current Formula One grid arrive at the digits that will become part of their identity? Ahead of the season opener in Australia, we delve into the details…

Sebastian Vettel - 1 (and 5)
As the reigning world champion, Vettel had the option to continue carrying the prestigious number one on his car, something he duly accepted. Should he fail to claim a fifth consecutive championship title in 2014, however, the German will revert to his chosen career number: five. Vettel had the number five on his Red Bull car in 2010 - the year he won his first championship - and in 2001 when he was racing karts.

Daniel Ricciardo - 3
Whereas the previous Australian incumbent at Red Bull was, for better or for worse, associated with the number two, the latest Aussie has plumped to carry the number three. “It was my first ever number in karting and I was also a fan of (late NASCAR racer) Dale Earnhardt,” Ricciardo has said. 

Lewis Hamilton - 44
Like the majority of F1 drivers, the Mercedes star began his racing career in karting, and it’s from there that the Hamilton has plucked his new (or should that be old?) number. Hamilton ran the number 44 when he won the cadet class of the British karting championship in 1995.

Nico Rosberg - 6
Why did the German choose number six? Well, as he confirmed on his Twitter account, it’s his future wife's and his dad's lucky number. “It has got to work for me too!” he joked. If the number is as lucky for Nico as it was for his father he’ll be smiling - Keke Rosberg won the 1982 world championship with the number six on his Williams.

Fernando Alonso - 14
Like rival Lewis Hamilton, the Spaniard has turned to his karting days for the inspiration behind his new number. “It has always brought me luck, dating back to 14th July 1996 when, at the age of 14, I won the world championship in a kart that had the number 14. Let’s see if it will still bring me luck.” 

Kimi Raikkonen - 7
Last year Raikkonen carried the number seven to fifth place in the drivers’ championship and the Finn has since decided to stick with the number for the rest of his career. Like many drivers, he's even added his new digit to his helmet design. Marussia’s Jules Bianchi was also keen on the number, but Raikkonen got the nod by virtue of his higher championship finish in 2013. 

Romain Grosjean - 8
The Lotus driver took to Twitter to express his delight at securing his first number choice: eight (or #r8main as he put it). Like former team mate Raikkonen, Grosjean is staying with the number he ran in 2013, his most successful season to date. But the number has more significance for the Frenchman than that. “My wife was born the 8th of December, we started dating in 2008 and to my eyes my son is the 8th wonder of the world,” he said on his Facebook page. 

Pastor Maldonado - 13
Racing drivers can be a superstitious lot, but clearly Pastor Maldonado is not atriskaidekaphobe because he’s opted to race with the number 13 - a figure considered unlucky in many countries (though, it must be pointed out, lucky in others). The superstition surrounding the number 13 is thought to date back to pre-war racing and has generally been avoided in F1 competition. The only driver to have entered a world championship Grand Prix with 13 on his car was Mexican racer Moises Solana, whose BRM carried the number in his home race in 1963. Was it unlucky for him? Perhaps - he qualified 11th and was the last classified finisher (also in 11th) after his engine blew with eight laps to go. Let’s hope the number proves luckier for Maldonado who says it has a long history in Venezuelan sport…

Jenson Button - 22
Like many of his compatriots, Button has opted for a race number associated with a good time in his career. In the Englishman’s case, that’s 22 - the number that adorned his Brawn GP car during his 2009 championship-winning season. Coincidentally, 22 was also on Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren during his 2008 title run.

Kevin Magnussen - 20
The Dane comes to F1 fresh from winning the Formula Renault 3.5 title in 2013 with the number 20 on his car, so it’s rather appropriate that he’ll carry the number in his debut season with McLaren in 2014. 

Nico Hulkenberg - 27
The number 27 is perhaps one of the most evocative in Formula One history, having become associated with Ferrari’s swashbuckling hero Gilles Villeneuve and latterly with another Scuderia favourite, Jean Alesi. World champions Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Alan Jones and Nigel Mansell all also carried the number at different points during their careers, so Hulkenberg is joining an elite club. According to the German, it’s simply “a cool number”.

Sergio Perez - 11
Like Hamilton and Alonso, Perez has chosen to spend the rest of his career carrying the number he used in the early stages of his career. “I always had 11 in karting and actually even my email address has 11 in it,” revealed the Mexican recently. 

Adrian Sutil - 99
The FIA allowed drivers to choose a number between two and 99 and whilst no one plumped for the lower number, Sutil has grabbed the highest. The number 99 was featured in the world championship before, at the 1951 Indianapolis 500 on the car of race winner Lee Wallard. However, as that race was not run to F1 rules, Sutil will have the honour of being the first person to race with it on a Grand Prix car. 

Esteban Gutierrez - 21
The Mexican kept things simple when it came to choosing his new race number. “21 - my lucky number,” he Tweeted. You can’t argue with that. Coincidentally, 21 was also Gutierrez’s age when he started in F1 racing.

Jean-Eric Vergne - 25
The number 25 was the Frenchman’s first choice as he was born on April 25. He also carried the number during his earliest days in karting.

Daniil Kvyat - 26
In a stroke of strange coincidence, Vergne’s Russian team mate Kvyat was born on April 26, so the Toro Rosso youngster has opted for that number. It means that the Italian team are one of only two squads to retain consecutive numbering. “I also competed in my first karting event in Russia with that number,” said Kvyat. “But there’s not much history behind it and I’m looking forward to making something of that number as I start my F1 career.” 

Felipe Massa - 19
Massa’s title success in Euro Formula 3000 in 2001 was significant - it earned the Brazilian an F1 test with Sauber. The rest, as they say, is history. The number he used in 2001? 19, a number his uncle had used when racing and one that young Felipe adopted in karting. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Massa has claimed the number for his 2014 championship challenge with Williams. 

Valtteri Bottas - 77
The Finn has gone for number 77 after floating the idea on Twitter with the hashtag ‘BO77AS’. We’ve got to hand it to him - he was clearly thinking outside the box. 

Jules Bianchi - 17
The Frenchman was perhaps the unluckiest driver in the number stakes. Bianchi’s three choices were 7, 27 and 77, but all were taken by drivers who finished above him in the 2013 standings. Instead, the Marussia man will use 17.

Max Chilton - 4
Like Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, Chilton has opted to use a number which works as a substitute letter. So, on Twitter at least, Chilton is no longer MAX, but M4X.

Kamui Kobayashi - 10
The popular Japanese driver made his Formula One racing debut with Toyota back in 2009. Guess which number was on his car? That’s right, the number 10. 

Marcus Ericsson - 9
With Kobayashi choosing 10 it was particularly apt that rookie team mate Ericsson plumped for number 9, a digit he simply likes. It means that Caterham join Toro Rosso as the only teams that are running consecutive numbers.

(source: f1.com)