7) Jazeman Jaafar
Jazeman Jaafar only finished on the podium twice during the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season, but raced the whole season without a team-mate as his ISR Racing outfit struggled with finances.
The Malaysian driver secured points in nine of the seventeen races in 2014, including third place finishes in consecutive races in Monaco and Spa-Francorchamps, and finished a creditable tenth in the Drivers’ Championship, while at the same time helping ISR finish eighth despite being their only driver.
There were times during the year where Jaafar could have benefited greatly from having a team-mate, but the twenty-two-year-old never gave up, and more often than not made the best of the situation that faced him.
Jaafar has options for 2015, with the Malaysian weighing up whether to stay for a third season in the Formula Renault 3.5 series or move to the GP2 Series. Whichever series he ends up racing in next year will have a very talented driver on their hands.